On September 8, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) presented its annual report Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times. Of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, this year’s leader in streamlining business procedures was Kyrgyzstan, ranked 41 out of the 183 countries by the IFC study. Kazakhstan ranked 63, Uzbekistan 150 and Tajikistan, 152nd. The report looked at reforms implemented by each country since June 2008.
One of the report's authors, Svetlana Bagaudinova, stated that "the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are ahead of other regions in the number of reforms undertaken to facilitate business procedures."
This year, Kyrgyzstan jumped 27 places in the world rankings and was ranked the second most active reformer. According to Neil Gregory, advisor for Financial and Private Sector Development in the World Bank Group, "Kyrgyzstan has shown for the second year running that it can make great strides in a broad range of indicators analysed in the report." He points out that "this year's ratings jump is the result of strong cooperation between the government, representatives of the private sector and donor organisations."
Lagging behind in 63rd place, Kazakhstan only moved up one spot from last year's rank. Bagaudinova noted however, that "one of the country's significant reforms this year has been to improve the business climate by lowering tax burdens on private companies." She also noted new streamlined procedures to obtain building permits, the repeal of installation fees for new connections to the electricity grid and a drop in the price of building site surveys. "It's clear that the government has focused on improving the business climate, and reforms that are in the pipeline for next year will place Kazakhstan in a higher ranking," Bagaudinova said.
In contrast, Uzbekistan has fallen five places this year, while Turkmenistan failed to make the cut and was not included in the rankings.
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