The recent release of the Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 by the World Bank highlights the progress made by Thailand in improving its business and regulatory environment.
Overall, this year’s report shows that 115 out of the 190 economies assessed worldwide made it easier to do business. While the developing economies have made tangible progress in terms of closing the gap to the developed economies, especially in the area of business incorporation, the level of disparity remains significant with the report indicating that it costs around 50% of the country’s per capita income to launch a company in a low-income country, compared to just 4.2% in a high income economy. The report also revealed that starting a business in a country ranked in the bottom 50 can take, on average, up to six times longer than starting one in a country in the top 20.
Taking a closer look at East Asia and Pacific region, Singapore remains a leader, both regionally and worldwide, as it retains its second place ranking on the ease of doing business index for a fourth consecutive year. From the East Asia and Pacific zone, Singapore (2), Hong Kong (3), South Korea (5), Malaysia (12), Taiwan (15), and Thailand (21) are among the top 25, while the region’s average ranking is 96th. This year, China has also made further notable improvement jumping from 46th place to 31st in 2020, earning it a place among the top 10 improvers for two consecutive years.
Looking at Thailand, the country has climbed 6 spots from 27th in 2019 to the 21st in 2020 with an overall score of 80.1. The country’s strengths include starting a business, getting electricity, protecting minority investors, and trading across borders, with scores above 80 in all of these criteria. Also, the country’s progress in amending its legislation regarding construction permits has been recognized as a major reform by the report. Thailand has introduced legislation allowing a phased inspection system to replace the previous random check mechanism. This new procedure has reduced the number of procedures involved from 19 to 14 steps, while also shortening the time required to complete the process from 118 to 113 days.
Thailand’s performance in this year’s ease of doing business rankings represents its best performance in 6 years. This improvement sends a strong message to investors worldwide that the government is making significant progress in its ongoing efforts to create a more conducive business and investment environment, especially through the government’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development project.