By Kim Tong-hyung
Korea is the eighth best country in which to run a business, according to an annual report by the according to the World Bank, Thursday. It marked the first time the country made the top 10 of the World Bank’s “Doing Business” study, leaping eight spots from last year’s 16th place thanks to positive reviews on government efforts to weed out bureaucratic inefficiency.
The survey, published since 2004, rates 183 countries on the ease in which they allow firms to operate, based on criteria such as how convenient it is to start a business, get credit and pay taxes.
Singapore topped the list for the sixth consecutive year, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States. Japan fell two spots from last year to 20th place, while Taiwan and China finished 25th and 91st, respectively.
Korea managed to climb the table for the fourth straight year after ranking 30th in the 2007 report. The country’s eighth place was the third highest among the Group of 20 nations and sixth among the industrialized Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members.
Korea received high marks for government efforts to make it easier to start and run a business and pay taxes. The country’s ranking in the “starting a business” category leapt from 60th place last year to 24th this year, while its position in the “paying taxes” table improved from 49th last year to 38th this year.
However, the World Bank continues to give the country mediocre ratings for protecting investors and registering property, where it finished 79th and 71st, respectively.
Korea has been making efforts to reduce red tape for entrepreneurs and the recent introduction of an online registration system reduced the time it takes to open a new business from the previous average of 14 days to seven this year, the strategy and finance ministry said.
Tax authorities also simplified local tax categories and streamlined payment for state pension and insurances of health, employment and industrial accidents.
“East Asia is a massive market. The World Bank has just cut us a certificate that we are the best place to do business in this region aside of smaller city states like Singapore and Hong Kong,” said Yu Bok-hwan, an official from the ministry’s policy coordination bureau.
“The country’s spot in the Doing Business list has improved 15th spots during the current (Lee Myung-bak) government, but we have areas for improvement in areas like registering property and protecting investors.”