Doing Business in the Arab World 2010
Arab economies have picked up the pace of business regulatory reform in the past year, according to Doing Business in the Arab World 2010 (PDF, 691KB).
Released on Nov. 8, the report examines the business regulatory environment of 20 Arab economies within the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors found that 16 Arab economies introduced 38 reforms that made it easier to do business -- and 2 reforms that made doing business more difficult -- during the period studied (June 2008 and May 2009). The United Arab Emirates and the Arab Republic of Egypt rank among the top 10 global reformers in 2008/09, Egypt for the fourth time.
Last year’s Doing Business in the Arab World 2009 showed similar findings: 13 Arab economies introduced 31 reforms -- 29 of which made it easier to do business while 2 made it harder.
One focus of reform was the minimum capital requirement for starting a limited liability company. Eight Arab economies have reduced or eliminated this requirement since 2005, including, in the past year, Egypt, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Five of these had among the highest requirements in the world.
Other barriers to new businesses also were lowered. One-stop shops for business registration are now operational in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Republic of Yemen. The results show that in Egypt, starting a limited liability company now takes a week and six procedures, as compared to almost two weeks and seven procedures, two years ago.
Reforms also intensified in other areas in 2008/09. Six economies made construction permitting easier, more than in the previous five years combined. Six improved trade processes. Morocco launched a state-of-the-art private credit bureau. Tunisia strengthened investor protections.
Doing Business in the Arab World 2010 includes 20 Arab economies: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank and Gaza and Yemen. The report is co-sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, Arab Monetary Fund, World Bank, and International Finance Corporation. It was launched on Nov. 8, 2009, in Abu Dhabi.
Note: Doing Business began tracking reforms in 2004. Bahrain and Qatar were first included in the Doing Business database in 2008.
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