Cambodia ranks in the bottom 20 percent of the world's economies in terms of how

easy it is to run a business, according to a World Bank report released on September

6.

Of the 175 countries surveyed, Cambodia was pegged at 143.

The annual survey, conducted by the Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC),

looks at 10 indicators, including how easy it is to start a business, employ workers,

get credit, protect investors and pay taxes.

This year's survey ranked Singapore in first place and the Democratic Republic of

the Congo in last.

Among ASEAN nations, the only country lower than Cambodia was the Lao PDR, ranked

at 159. Thailand came in at 18 and Vietnam at 104.

The Bank's report noted that there were some key reforms made by the Cambodian government

to assist businesses, including the time it takes to get a license (down from 247

days to 181 days in 2005) and the time it takes to export (down from 43 days to 36

days).

However, the Bank said more reforms were needed.

"There are a lot of opportunities for further reform," said Caralee McLiesh,

program manager of the Bank's Doing Business Project, during a video press conference

September 6.

"Cambodia puts a lot of obstacles in the way of entrepreneurs to start up a

business," she said.

One area that stands out as in much need for reform is that of enforcing a contract.

The Bank's survey indicates that the cost of doing so is actually more expensive

than the amount of a claim recovered.

The Bank recognizes that the reform process is long and complicated but said that

one way to encourage reform was simply to publicize the survey's findings.

"No government likes to look bad in comparison to its neighbors," McLiesh

said.

 

 

 

 

Ease of doing business:

143rd out of 175 countries

CAMBODIA

Population 14.1 million

Gross National Income per capita US$380

 

 

 

 

 

Starting a business (rank)

Procedures (number)

Time (days)

Cost (percent of income per capia)

Minimum capital (percent of income per capita)

159

10

86

236.4

66.2

 

 

Dealing with licenses (rank)

Procedures (number)

Time (days)

Cost (percent of income per capital)

159

28

181

1640.4

 

 

Employing workers (rank)

Difficulty of hiring index (0-100)

Rigidity of hours index (0-100)

Difficulty of firing index (0-100)

Rigidity of employment index (0-100)

Nonwage labor cost (percent of salary)

Firing cost (weeks of salary)

124

56

60

30

49

39

 

 

Registering property (rank)

Procedures (number)

Time (days)

Cost (percent of property value)

100

7

56

4.6

 

 

Getting credit (rank)

Strength of legal rights index (0-10)

Depth of credit information index (0-6)

Public registry coverage (percentage of adults)

Private bureau coverage (percentage of adults)

174

0.0

 

 

Protecting investors (rank)

Extent of disclosure index (0-10)

Extent of director liability index (0-10)

Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10)

Strength of investor protection index (0-10)

60

5

9

2

5.3

 

 

Paying taxes (rank)

Payments (number per year)

Time (hours per year)

Total tax rate (percent of profit)

16

27

121

22.3

 

 

Trading across borders (rank)

Documents to export (number)

Time to export (days)

Cost to export (US$ per container)

Documents to import (number)

Time to import (days)

Cost to import (US$ per container)

114

8

36

736

12

45

816

 

 

Enforcing contracts (rank)

Procedures (number)

Time (days)

Cost (percent of claim)

118

31

401

121.3

 

Closing a business (rank)

Time (years)

Cost (percent of estate)

Recovery rate (cents in the dollar)

151

NO PRACTICE

NO PRACTICE