Taiwan slips four spots to 15th most business-friendly economy in world

全球經商環境評比台灣退步4名至第15名

The report ranks Taiwan ahead of major economies such as Germany, Canada, Japan, France, and China


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan has been ranked as 15th in the world for its ease of doing business globally, and 6th among Asia-Pacific economies, according to a World Bank annual report released on Tuesday.

In this year’s 2018 Doing Business, New Zealand maintained the top spot in the report as the most business-friendly country with a total score of 86.55, followed by Singapore and Denmark with a score of 84.57 and 84.06, respectively.

Taiwan scored 80.07 this year, and slipped four spots to 15th in the world ranking and one spot from 5th in the Asia Pacific region. The country’s regional main rivals South Korea and Hong Kong came in 4th and 5th place on their ease of doing business in the world.

The report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 190 economies.

This year, Taiwan saw improvements in making trade across borders easier, and making contract enforcement easier by introducing electronic filing systems for commercial cases and allowing attorneys to submit the initial summons online, according to the report.

It’s worth mentioning that Taiwan was named as a pioneer in the regulatory practice of corporate transparency and garnered the same score as France and Norway.

Taiwan made it to 30th worldwide in the following indicators relating ease of doing business: accessing electricity (3rd), dealing with construction permits (4th), enforcing contracts (10th), starting a business (16th), registering property (18th), resolving insolvency (20th), and protecting property rights (24th).

The island country underperformed in trading across borders (55th), despite improvements this year in the areas of paying taxes (56th) and getting credit (90th).

The report ranked Taiwan ahead of major economies such as Germany, Canada, Japan, France, and China.