PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has jumped five notches to 18th place in the World Bank's Doing Business 2012 Report, placing it ahead of the economies of developed countries like Germany, Japan, Switzerland and Belgium.
The report highlighted Malaysia's steps in introducing electronic filing in courts, setting up specialised civil and commercial courts in Kuala Lumpur and creating a one-stop centre for business start-ups by merging company, tax, social security and employment fund registrations.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said the improved ranking from 23rd last year to 18th showed the Government's reform measures had begun to show results.
However, he cautioned the public and private sectors that there was “still a lot of work to do”.
“There are new entrants in the ranking and the existing ones are advancing by leaps and bounds. We need to not only augment our services, but to do so in giant steps,” he said in a statement released by Pemudah yesterday.
According to the report, Malaysia recorded improvements in six categories and unchanged status in two.
However, it did not score well in certain categories, including dealing with construction permits, paying taxes and enforcing contracts.
Mohd Sidek urged the private sector to take more measures to simplify procedures and reduce bureaucracy to improve business efficiency.
“Only when this happens can the Government's broader reforms in creating a simpler and more efficient delivery system be fully realised,” he said, adding that clogs in productivity needed to be identified.
The report measured the ease of doing business in 183 territories and investigated regulations that enhance or constrain business activity.
It ranked 10 areas of business activity including starting a business, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors and enforcing contracts.
Singapore was ranked top in Asia, Hong Kong (second), South Korea (eighth) and Thailand (17th) for ease of doing business.
Source : http://thestar.com.my