Doing Business: Georgia ranks 7th among 190 countries

The World Bank has released a Doing Business 2020 report. The survey, conducted by the organization, aims to study the situation of entrepreneurship in 190 countries around the world. Georgia holds the leading position in the ranking, but it has fallen in one place. In the Doing Business 2020 ranking, among 190 countries Georgia holds 7th place; while in the same rating of 2019, it held 6th despite the country improving its rating by 0.2 points to 83.7.

Denmark also stepped down from 3rd to 4th place. New Zealand still ranks first, followed by Singapore. The top ten also includes Hong Kong (3), South Korea (5), the US (6), the UK (8), Norway (9) and Sweden (10). The last 190th place is held by Somalia.

Georgia has reached a historic high in the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 ranking

“Georgia's score was 83.7 points, which is historically high for the country.

Georgia remains a leader among the Europe and Central Asia region – 23 countries," Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natia Turnava told reporters after the cabinet meeting yesterday.

According to the Minister of Economy, Georgia's position in the rating has improved in several indicators, including business start-ups, construction permits, tax payments, cross-border trade and more.

“As for the ranking, you know that despite the improvement of the score, Georgia is in the seventh position and it has to be said that the US is one place above. So nowadays, in the competition who is more open and free - US or Georgia, this is the US, but our score is improved and reaches the historical maximum. We are among the leaders,” - Turnava said.

The Deputy Finance Minister Nikoloz Gagua said in assessing Georgia's achievements in the 2020 World Bank's Ease of Doing Business, that Georgia must remain one of the world's top 10 in one of the most authoritative ratings.

“This is yet another acknowledgment of our reforms. The World Bank's "ease of doing business ranking" very positively noted several areas. For example, tax rates have significantly advanced, we also improved the position of the issuance of construction permits. The achievements are significant motivation to undertake further reforms in the country to further press ahead with their ranking. We have planned very important reforms, which will be initiated in the near future," said Gagua.

“There is the indicator, but the other is the reality. Sometimes a specific figure goes beyond reality,” said Zviad Chumburidze, secretary-general of the EU-Georgia Business Council, regarding the mentioned rating.

“It's not only about being 7th on the Doing Business list when you can register your business in 2 days. The main thing is how this business develops,” noted Chumburidze.

The World Bank establishes a traditional rating by studying 10 directions. These include new business and property registration, customs procedures, tax and credit system, investor protection, access to electricity, international trade, enforcement of contracts and resolving insolvency.

The World Bank also published a list of the world's leading reformers. The list includes those countries that have been rated the most by the World Bank in terms of reforms.

Leading Reformers are countries that have improved their positions in more than 3 out of the 10 key World Bank ratings and whose ratings have increased the most. The list mainly includes those countries that have only begun to take active steps to liberalize their economies. According to the World Bank, Azerbaijan is among such countries, as it has improved legislation on protecting minority shareholders, and also changed the rules governing the issuance of credit.

As for Georgia’s neighboring countries this year, Armenia ranks 47th out of 190 countries in the world, which is six points worse than last year. As for Azerbaijan, it ranks 34th in Doing.