Among other things, IFC and World Bank rated high the simplified customs and border procedures in Georgia, which helped the country boost exports despite the Russia’s embargo of 2006.
Photo: Ilya Pitalev
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Georgia Is Top Reformer, World Bank Says
When it comes to reforms in 175 states of the world, the palm is given to Georgia, according to Doing Business 2007: How to reform report of the World Bank and IFC. The progress in reforms is too slow in the better part of CIS members, including Russia.
The conclusion of Doing business 2007. How to reform report of the World Bank and IFC could be viewed as a real victory of Georgian authorities in general and State Minister for Economic Reforms Kakha Bendukidze in particular. It is not just that Georgia was called the top reformer of CIS members. It was named the world leader actually. The country improved six of 10 fundamentals and climbed to the 37th score in the world after skipping 75 positions.
Unlike Georgia, Russia crawled one step higher, having progressed to the 96th score from the 97th one. Now it could be spotted somewhere behind China but slightly ahead of Brazil and India. This relatively low score of the country, the masterminds of the report said, could be blamed mostly on the difficulties to obtain the license (especially in construction) in the country, low availability of bank loans for small/mid.-businesses and excessive control over the export and import activities.
The list of the states with laws most favorable for the business community sprang no surprise. The leaders are Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Hong Kong and the Great Britain. According to the report, if the recent amendments to the joint stock laws are actually applied in Russia, in extent, the protection of holders rights will be comparable to protection offered in the United States and Great Britain.
www. kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 06, 2006
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