Hong Kong Ranks Fourth in World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ Survey
Commenting on Hong Kong’s improvement in World Bank’s latest Doing Business report, Simon Lee told South China Morning Post that the Hong Kong government is quite efficient most of the time, but not when it comes to public safety.
Hong Kong was ranked fourth in World Bank’s annual “Doing Business” report released on 25 October 2016, up from last year’s fifth place, while China moved up to 78th from last year’s 84th place.
In Hong Kong it takes one and a half days to start a business, while in Venezuela the same process takes 230 days.
The report found that Hong Kong’s government had made setting up and running a business less costly last year by reducing the business registration fee and cutting the red tape for companies wanting to apply for new electricity accounts.
Hong Kong also led the pack when it came to paying taxes, with the least number of payment installments per year.
Simon Lee, Assistant Dean (Undergraduate Studies) and Senior Lecturer of School of Accountancy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong Business School, said in an interview with South China Morning Post that overall Hong Kong was “very efficient”, but it should be just maintain the status quo as other countries could improve and move up the ranks.
“Our government is quite efficient most of the time, but not when it comes to public safety,” he stated. “The government should think from the business operators’ point of view and need to strike a balance between safety regulations and efficiency but currently it is too inefficient on safety, meaning that some businesses – especially restaurants – face lengthy regulation procedures,” Lee said.
The World Bank’s Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All report assesses 11 areas of business regulation for domestic firms in 190 economies, such as starting a business, paying taxes, and enforcing contracts – and this year it also included a gender dimension for the first time in some areas. The report found that a record 137 economies carried out 283 business reforms last year to make it easier to start and operate small and medium-sized businesses… Read More (PDF)
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Source: South China Morning Post
Date published: 27 October, 2016
