Dubai: The UAE climbed three slots to take the 23rd spot globally in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business report 2014, published on Tuesday.
The new report by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 189 economies.
The UAE was ranked fourth globally in the Trading Across Borders category, up from its fifth ranking in 2013.
In addition, the UAE was ranked the highest in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in the same category. It topped the region in five of the 10 parameters on which the report ranked the economies.
“The UAE’s high ranking…is another clear indication that we are on the right track to achieving the goal set by our prudent leadership to be one of the best countries in the world by 2021,” said Jamal Majid Bin Thaniah, chairman of Dubai Trade in a statement on Wednesday.
The UAE tops the region in starting a business, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes (first globally), and trading across borders.
It is the second best place in the region for the ease of dealing with construction permits, after Bahrain, getting credit, after Saudi Arabia. It is ranked second, after Qatar, for enforcing contracts.
Also, the UAE has improved its ranking for protecting investors, moving from the 137th spot globally in 2013 to 98 in 2014.
In addition, the country is among the 29 economies that have implemented regulatory reforms to make it easier to do business in three or more of the 10 topics this year, according to the report.
