Bulgaria maintains a steady position in the global ranking on ease of doing business in the country, finds Doing Business 2009 - the sixth in a series of annual reports published by IFC and the World Bank, which compares regulation in 181 economies. Bulgaria is ranked at 45th place ahead of neighboring Romania (47), and EU member states such as Slovenia (54), Poland (76) and Italy (65) on the overall ease of doing business.

Singapore leads the global rankings on the overall regulatory ease of doing business for a third consecutive year. New Zealand is runner-up, and the United States third. The top 25 are, in order, Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, Hong Kong (China), Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Norway, Iceland, Japan, Thailand, Finland, Georgia, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Bahrain, Belgium, Malaysia, Switzerland, Estonia, Korea, Mauritius, and Germany.

This year reforms to business regulation reached record numbers, with Eastern Europe and Central Asia leading among world regions for a fifth consecutive year, according to the report.

Four of the 10 economies making the most regulatory reforms are in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the trend is moving eastward as newcomers join the list.

In the last year Bulgaria implemented reforms in four areas measured by Doing Business - making it easier for entrepreneurs to start a business, pay taxes, enforce contracts and close a business. Dealing with construction permits became more difficult with an increase in fees and additional requirements.

The difficulties in obtaining construction permits are an area where Bulgaria should seek improvement, Sylvia Solf of the team which wrote the 2008 report, said at a news conference presenting the document. Another such area is payment of taxes for which the business uses 616 hours annually. In terms of this indicator Bulgaria is ranked at the 94th place.

Two indicators where Bulgaria performs well are loan taking, where this country is ranked on the fifth place, and investor protection, where it takes up the 38th place.

Source: BTA