MANILA - (UPDATED 11:31 a.m.) The Philippines
marked the biggest improvement in its business environment among Asian
economies since last year, according to a global ranking by the World
Bank.
From the 138th spot last year, the Philippines jumped to the 108th place in the Washington-based lender's Doing Business 2014 report.
Fueling the country's rise were reforms in three
areas: introduction of online tax filing and payment, reduction in
number of requirements for construction permit, and new rules that allow
borrowers to gain access to their credit profile.
The Philippines joined nine other economies around
the world that made the largest gain in making it easier for local
entrepreneurs to do business. The nine other top 10 gainers were
Ukraine, Rwanda, the Russian Federation, Kosovo, Djibouti, Côte
d’Ivoire, Burundi, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and
Guatemala.
Singapore however remains the most
business-friendly economy, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the US,
Denmark, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Georgia, Norway, and the
United Kingdom.
A joint undertaking by the World Bank and its
private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corp (IFC), the
Doing Business report looks into government rules for doing business,
including start-up and operations, trading across borders, tax payments
and insolvency procedures. The ranking is based on 10 indicators and
covers 189 economies.
Bottom half
Despite its jump, the Philippines still remains in
the bottom half of the 189 economies that the report covers. The
Philippine also ranks below the average of 88 for East Asia and the
Pacific, and trails Asean neighbors Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand,
Brunei and Vietnam.
Pulling down the Philippines’ global standing was start-up regulation, where it still ranks very low (170th),
as an entrepreneur would have to secure 15 permits, th emost number in
East Asia and the Pacific and twice the regional average of seven.
Start-up businesses in the Philippines also have to wait 35 days before
they can begin operations, slightly less than the regional average of
37.9.
Number of Procedures Required to Start a Business
Source: World Bank
While it introduced reforms in tax payments, the country still landed in the bottom half (131st)
on this metric, as an entrepreneur has to pay taxes 36 times in a year,
eating up more of their time than the average of 25 for East Asia and
the Pacific. The total tax rate eats up 44.5 percent of profit in the
Philippines, higher than the regional average of 34.5 percent.
Number of Times Taxes Paid in a Year
Source: World Bank
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