Malaysia climbs to 15th spot in World Bank Doing Business 2019 Report

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia had climbed up to the 15th position in the World Bank Doing Business 2019 Report from its 24th position the year before.

The Doing Business Report ranks 190 economies annually on the ease of doing business through multiple indicators namely Starting a Business, Dealing with Construction Permit, Getting Electricity, Registering Property, Getting Credit, Protecting Minority Investors, Paying Taxes, Trading Across Borders, Enforcing Contracts and Resolving Insolvency.

As such, Malaysia is amongst the world’s top performers in several areas measured by the report.

The country is second only to New Zealand in the area of Protecting Minority Investors, while a reform in the past year to improve construction permitting helped advanced Malaysia to a global rank of three in the area of Dealing with Construction Permits.

This is notable as it now takes 54 days in Malaysia to obtain construction permit, in comparison to 158 days globally and 133 days on average in the East Asia and Pacific region.

Malaysia is however still underperforming in the area or Starting Business, with a global ranking of 122.

Source: NST