v

CONTENTS

Forewordvii

Acknowledgmentsxi

ExecutiveSummary1

Introduction1

WhatisBusinessReady?2

B-READY’sanalyticalframework:Tentopics,threepillars,

threecross-cuttingthemes4

Scoring8

Datacollectionandgovernance8

B-READY2024dataandsummaryresults11

B-READY2024keyemergingfindings22

Findingsfromthecross-cuttingthemesofdigitaladoption,

environmentalsustainability,andgender33

NextstepsforBusinessReady34

Notes35

References36

Boxes

ES.1ComparisonofthekeyfeaturesofDoingBusinessandB-READY2

ES.2Assessingbusinessclimateconditions:Insightsfromexamplesof

B-READYindicators6

ES.3Datavalidationandqualityassurance10

Figures

ES.1B-READYtopicscorrespondtovariousstagesofthelifecycle

ofafirmandexaminethreecross-cuttingthemes5

ES.2B-READYpillarsdefinethescopeoftheproject6

ES.3B-READYreliesondataobtaineddirectlyfromexpertsandenterprises10

ES.4Thedistributionofeconomiesbyincomelevelvaries

considerablyacrosspillarsandbyperformance16

ES.5Strongperformanceisnotconfinedtoasmallgroupof

economies,butallhaveroomforimprovement22

ES.6TheassociationbetweenB-READYpillarscoresandGDP

percapitaisstrongandpositive,withnotableexceptions23

vi?BusinessReady2024

ES.7Low-incomeandmiddle-incomeeconomiescanbe

foundinthetoptwoquintilesineverytopic24

ES.8PublicServicesistheB-READYpillarwiththewidestrange

andweakestperformance,onaverage25

ES.9PillarII,PublicServices,largelydrivesthevariationinthe

businessenvironmentacrosseconomies26

ES.10Mosteconomiessufferfroma“publicservicesgap”:

TheirscoresforPublicServicesarelowerthantheirscoresfor

RegulatoryFrameworks27

ES.11The“publicservicesgap”isevidentacrossregions,

incomelevels,andtopics28

ES.12The“publicservicesgap”closesremarkablyasthe

businessenvironmentimproves30

ES.13Formosteconomies,scoresontheOperationalEfficiency

pillararehigherthantheaveragescoresontheRegulatory

FrameworkpillarandthePublicServicespillar31

ES.14Firmsareresilienttothe“publicservicesgap”acrosstopics32

ES.15Thedistributionofscoresshowsscopeforimprovement

acrossalltopics32

ES.16Economieswithafavorablebusinessenvironmentinone

topictendtoperformwellinothers33

Tables

ES.1B-READY2024performance,bypillar11

ES.2B-READY2024performance,bytopic19

vii

FOREWORD

Whenevertheoddsseemstackedagainsthumanaspirations—when

economicgrowthlookssettoremainfeebleasfarastheeyecansee,whentoomanycountriesseemdestinedtogrowoldbeforetheybecomerich,

whenclimatechangeseemstohavecrossedthetippingpoint—itisworthrememberingthedistinctivevirtueofourspecies.Predictionsofglobal

doomhaveproliferatedthroughouthistory.Yettheskyhasn’tfallen,foronereason:humaningenuity.

Itwasingenuitythatdisarmedtheso-called“populationbomb”—the

ideathat“hundredsofmillionsofpeople”wouldstarvetodeathinthe

1970sasrapidpopulationgrowthexhaustedfinitesuppliesoffood.Infact,agriculturalinnovations—suchasthedevelopmentofhigh-yield,pest-

resistantcrops—causedglobalfoodproductiontogrowfasterthanthe

populationinnearlyeverypartoftheworld.Itwashumaningenuitythatdefeateddeadlydiseasesincludingonce-dreadedHIV/AIDSand,most

recently,COVID-19.Ifclimatechangeissomehowtamedbythemiddleofthiscentury,themainpropellantofthatsuccesswillbehumaningenuity.

Butthisprogressisseldomthefruitofabigeurekamoment.Human

ingenuityworksinsteadthroughthemiraclesthatoccurwhengovernments,privateenterprises,andindividualsactinwaysthatbenefitentiresocieties.Thatdependsonconduciveconditions,cultivatedbyameasuredblendofrulesandpractices.TheWorldBankGrouphasbeeninclinedtocallthis

“thebusinessclimate”or“thebusiness-enablingenvironment”—because

sustainedeconomicdevelopmentusuallyreflectssystemwidebusinesssuccess.

Fortoolong,though,thefocushasbeentoomuchonwhatgovernmentscandoforthegoodofbusiness—andnotenoughonwhatbusinesses

candoforthegoodofall.Thisreportmarksacrucialfirststeptocorrect

thatimbalance.TheBusinessReady(B-READY)projectaimstobuild

acomprehensiveinstrumentpanelthatby2026willenableabout180

economiestodialintheprecisesettingsneededforavibrantprivatesectordevelopment—thecombinationofconditionsthatwillreducepoverty,

advancesharedprosperity,andspeedupthetransitiontoalow-carbon

economy.Itsgoalistoacceleratesmartdevelopmentbyencouraging

healthycompetitionamongbusinesses—andcountries.Itisdesigned

expresslytodiscourage“aracetothebottom”orsimplisticsolutionsthatweretheunintendedby-productofDoingBusiness,ourpreviousefforttohelpcountriesestablishtherightconditionsforprivatesectordevelopment.

viii?BusinessReady2024

BusinessReady’sanalyticalframeworkrecognizesthatthereismoreto

ahealthybusinessenvironmentthanthe“easeofdoingbusiness.”It

accountsforthepossibilitythatreducingthe“costofdoingbusiness”canunintentionallymeanraisingthecostsforsocietyatlarge.Accordingly,

BusinessReadyassessesnotonlytheregulatoryburdenonenterprises—howlongittakestostartabusiness,forexample—butalsothequality

ofregulations:Dolaborlaws,forexample,protectworkersfrombeingarbitrarilyfired?Dotheyinadvertentlymakewomenworkersless

competitivethanmenanddiscouragethemfromseekingwork?

Beyondassessingtherulesandregulationsthatgovernbusiness,BusinessReadydelvesintothepublicservicesneededtotransformintentions

intoreality.Dopublicutilitiesprovidereliablewaterandelectricityfor

businesses?Dogovernmentsmakeiteasyforbusinessestofulfilltheirtaxobligationsandcomplywithenvironmentalandsocialsafeguards?Do

theysetupsystemstoenablegovernmentagenciestosharebusiness-

relatedinformationwithoneanother?Dotheyprovidepublicdatabasesthatsupporttransparencyandthefreeflowofinformationnecessaryforahealthybusinessclimate?

Theresultisadatasetofbreathtakingdetailthatencompassesnearly

2,000datapointspereconomy.Itispossibletozeroin,forexample,

onthefrequencyofpoweroutagessufferedbyfirms,howlongittakestofileandpaytaxes,ortheaveragecosttosettleacommercialdisputeindifferenteconomies.Comparabledataofthisqualitysimplyarenot

availableanywhereelse.ThatmakesBusinessReadyanessentialpublicgood.Thetroveofinsightsitofferswillenablebusinessestomakebetterdecisionsaboutwhereandhowtheyoperate.Itwillspurgovernments

toadoptbetterpoliciesbylearningfromoneanother.Anditwillpermitresearcherseverywheretojointheefforttogetglobalprivatesector

developmentright.

ThisfirsteditionofBusinessReadycoversonly50economies.Thatis

areflectionofthecareanddeliberationweareputtingintogettingthe

analysisright.Nextyear,theprojectwillincludemorethan100economies,andin2026thecoveragewillexpandtoabout180economies.Witheachiteration,thereport’sdesignandmethodswillberefinedtoreflectthe

lessonslearnedfromtherollout.Sowhynotwaitforthemethodstobeperfectedbeforepublishingthedata?Becausetheworlddoesnotenjoytheluxuryoftime—developmentdelayedisdevelopmentdenied—andbecauseitspeedstheprocessofgettingfeedbackfromtheintended

beneficiariesofanassessment,abigpartofgettingtheassessment

right.Inanycase,inadynamicglobaleconomy,accuracywillalwaysbeamovingtarget.

Foreword?ix

Thedataandmethodsusedherearebothmorerigorousandmore

transparentthanthoseofDoingBusiness.Theyconsolidatethejudgmentsofmorethan2,500expertsinthebusinessclimateandthesurvey

responsesofmorethan29,000businesses.Theyaremoreexhaustive,

inshort,thananythingthathasbeenattemptedsofarbyaninternationalinstitution—andtheyareofimmediatevaluetothe50economiescoveredhere.Moreover,everypieceofdatacollectedforthisreportisnowpubliclyavailableontheB-READYwebsite—soitcanbecheckedandverifiedbyanyonewhosochooses.

Analysisofthisyear’sdataleadstotwogeneralobservations.First,

economiestendtoperformbetteratenactingregulationstoimprove

thenationalbusinessclimatethantheydoinprovidingthepublic

servicesneededtosecureactualprogress.Inshort,thereisasizeable

implementationgap.Butthegoodnewsisthatthegapshrinkswhenthequalityofregulationsimproves.Second,richereconomiestendtobe

morebusiness-ready,butacountryneednotbewealthytocreatea

goodbusinessenvironment.Amongthe50economiesassessedthisyear,

severaldevelopingeconomiesrankamongthetop10inseveralcategories:Rwandaforpublicservicesandoperationalefficiency,Colombiaforits

regulatoryframeworkandpublicservices,andGeorgiaforitsregulatoryframeworkandoperationalefficiency.

Thissuggestsprogressispossibleformostcountries.Governments

shouldstepupeffortstobecomebusiness-ready—butnotforthefleetingsatisfactionofnationalbraggingrights,ortheuncertainpromiseofabig

surgeinforeigninvestment.Therewardsarefarmoreencompassing:Whencorrectlychosenandcarefullysequenced,businessreformscanaccelerateeconomicgrowth,boostproductivity,andhelpreducecarbonemissionsatthesametime.Itcreatestheconditionsforhumaningenuitytoflourish—

exactlywhattheworldneedsatatimeofslowinggrowth,risingdebt,andclimatechange.BusinessReadyilluminatesthepathforward.

IndermitSinghGill

ChiefEconomistandSeniorVicePresidentforDevelopmentEconomics

WorldBankGroup

xi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

BusinessReady(B-READY)isaproductoftheWorldBankDevelopment

EconomicsVice-Presidency(DECVP),ledbyIndermitGill,SeniorVice

PresidentandChiefEconomistoftheWorldBankGroup.B-READYis

housedintheGlobalIndicatorsGroup,DevelopmentEconomics(DECIG),andissupervisedbyNormanLoayza,DECIGDirector.TheB-READYreportwaspreparedbyateamledbyValeriaPerotti,Manager,BusinessReady,incollaborationwithotherDECIGunits:EnterpriseAnalysis,ledbyJorgeRodriguezMeza,andSubnationalBusinessReady,managedbyMadalinaPapahagi,andsinceApril1,2024,managedbyValentinaSaltane.

TheprojectwasmanagedwithsupportfromSantiagoCrociDownes,

KirstenHommann,CharlotteNanJiang,TrimorMici,ValentinaSaltane,andJulienVilquin.

TheB-READYteamiscomposedofNourhanMohamedHashemAbdellatif,NuranaAhmadova,YoumnaAlHourani,RitulaAnand,VitorArgellada

Silveira,TodorArsovski,LeoniAyoub,ElodieMathildeRaymondeBataille,TersitBerhaneGhiday,RavneekKaurBhullar,TaylorBoyce,LiliyaF.

Bulgakova,JungRyunByun,MariaMagdalenaChiquier,VictoriaChiseliov,KamalClark-Chakaroun,CyrianeMarieCoste,SantiagoCrociDownes,

Marie-LilyDelion,MilagrosDezaDelgado,NadineDiMonte,TrangLeThi

HuyenDoan,SeldaDudu,LuisaDanielaDyerMelhado,VarunEknath,

ViktoriyaEreshchenko,MirenEscosLerga,MarcialFalconi,SubikaFarazi,

IsraelFierro,RoseWairimuGachina,ManuelGalileaIzquierdo,Dorina

PetevaGeorgieva,ZiadGhandour,DianaMariaGuevaraDuque,Kirsten

Hommann,CharlotteNanJiang,ConsueloJuradoTan,TommyKairuzHarb,MikhailKan,RinatKapev,NatalliaKarkanitsa,MarinaKayumova,SeoYeonKim,KlausKoch-Saldarriaga,MaimounaKonate,SarahKouhlaniNolla,IrinaKoval,IrynaLagodna,NghiaPiotrLeTrong,SelinaTabeaLehmann,Julia

Liniado,CamillaShuangLiu,RicardoMartinsMaia,DagmaraMaj-Swistak,RamiroMaldonado,LeslieMalher,ValerieEricaMarechal,RamanMaroz,

MelanieSilviaMartinz,TamarMatiashvili,NunoMendesDosSantos,LiyingMeng,TrimorMici,NabintuOliviaMutamboMpatswe,MarieNdiayeLixi,AntoniAlbertNoguésiComas,NadiaNovik,EnriqueOrellanaTamez,

DebasmitaPadhi,MadalinaPapahagi,MoniquePellouxPatron,ValeriaPerotti,ElenaPopic,OleksandraPopova,JuicyZareenQureishi-Huq,

MahbanNoemieRazaghi,ThomasPhilipRomano,HarshitaSakhamuri,ValentinaSaltane,PierreYvonYannAhuiSeka,XiaoqiaoShen,YundiShi,SyuzannaSimonyan,BenOmarHeliSolisSosa,InesSosa,Jayashree

Srinivasan,LynnTalouzian,KerennyTorresNegron,JuditTrasancos

xii?BusinessReady2024

Rodríguez,AttiqueUrRehman,YuliaValerio,JulienVilquin,YueWu,TiffanyRongpengYang,RayYazbek,InésZabalbeitiaMúgica,CalineZakher,andGustavoAlonsoZanabriaGainza.

TheB-READYinternsteamiscomposedofRamiRajihAlkhafaji,Lorena

BeatrizCuencaCardozo,RakaDe,EdouardDeCastellan,SebastianoPaulDell’Acqua,YixiuDong,ElizabethEnglishDuncan,LorenaAkouviEdah,

MohamedElGuindi,RunjiaGao,AlessaGarridoSosa,YuwenGuo,MyHaVuong,FranciscaHalpernPereiraFadenDaSilva,MuhammadFahdIqbalKhan,VasudhaJalan,TaichengJin,MonikaDoraKollar,RevathiKrishnan,

ZhongyangLi,QianLiu,ShitongLiu,JimenaMadrigalBrenes,Martina

Mancini,CarloMilani,AlessioCesaroMilo,MattiaMoretta,AndiMujollari,BiruNitisAnjanie,DianaNoellyRivasGarcia,SantiagoSatizabalAcosta,

EmiliaStazi,LucieNathalieMarieTaieb,SaraTeixeiraBacelosAscenso

Gaspar,UnnatiTolani,JonatoLucioXavierNatu,HaipengYan,RunfeiYan,JingxiYang,NguessanSharonLysYapi,HermineMarieYikyinboulaDurand,MinhaYoon,andShiruiZhou.

TheEnterpriseAnalysisteamcollectedalltheB-READYfirm-leveldata

viatheexpandedWorldBankEnterpriseSurveysandprovidedinvaluableadviceonquestionnairedesignandindicatordevelopment.Thisteamis

ledbyJorgeRodríguezMeza(manager),andconsistsofGemechuAyanaAga,NesmaAli,MohammadAmin,DavidC.Francis,CarolineGomes

Nogueira,NormaJanethGomezCaceres,ArvindJain,FilipJolevski,NonaKaralashvili,HibretBeleteMaemir,DavideSalvatoreMare,EugeniaAuroraRodríguezCuniolo,WilliamSoh,M.NazimTamko?,KoheiUeda,DomenicoViganola,RoseWairimuGachina,andJoshuaWimpey.

TheB-READY2024outreachstrategyismanagedbyCyrianeMarieCoste,CamillaShuangLiu,andJosephRebello,andsupportedbyTommyKairuzHarb,MarianaLozziTeixeira,RamiroMaldonadoZuleta,KristenMilhollin,

KarolinaOrdon,MahbanRazaghi,andShaneRomig,alongwithWorld

BankGroupcommunicationscolleaguesaroundtheworld.TheInformationandTechnologyExternalClientsSolutions(ITSES)teamisledbyFlora

RezaeiandconsistsofHudaBazyan,BotyoDimitrovBotev,Shahroze

HussanKhan,AkashPradhan,andGeoffreyAlanShot.TheB-READY

websitewasdevelopedincollaborationwithTodorArsovski,CyrianeMarieCoste,NadiaNovik,CamillaShuangLiu,andTiffanyRongpengYang.

DorseyKaufmanndesignedthewebsitedatavisualizations.

TheDevelopmentDataGroup,DevelopmentEconomics(DECDG),

supervisedbyHaishanFu,providedhelpfulconsultationsandsupportonthesetupandoperationoftheSurveySolutionssoftwarethatfacilitatestheimplementationofBusinessReadysurveysfordatacollection.Inparticular,

Acknowledgments?xiii

theteamisthankfultoVitaliiBalabanov,VolodymyrFedosieiev,SergiyRadyakin,andPavloStovpivskyifortheirsupport.

TheInformationandTechnologySolutionsDataManagementoffice

(ITSDM)team,ledbyArvindSrinivasanandconsistingofYingChi,VarunV.Doiphode,AnnaMariaKojzar,ParisaNazarijam,YuliyanNikolaev

Bogdanov,TsvetelinaNikolovaStefanova,andKunalH.Patel,provided

valuablesupportbydevelopingandmaintainingthetechnologyplatformsrequiredforcoreoperations,offeringtechnicalsupportessentialtothe

project’ssuccess.TheteamalsogainedfrominsightsofLeonardOrensNewmarkandMarianneDeborahRossertfromtheEthicsandBusinessConductDepartment(EBC).

TheteamwouldalsoliketoacknowledgethevaluablefeedbackreceivedfromtheB-READYAdvisoryGrouponIndicatorScoring:Gianfilippo

Carboni,AartKraay,NikolausNebe,andSylviaSolf(BusinessEntry);SomikLall(BusinessLocation);VivienFosterandMariaVagliasindi(UtilityServices);RaianDivanbeigiandMahoHatayama(Labor);AnaFiorellaCarvajaland

SephookoMotelle(FinancialServices);AlinaMonicaAntociandWilliam

JohnGain(InternationalTrade);ChiaraBronchi,RuudDeMooij,Jan

Loeprick,TuanMinhLe,andClaudiaVargasPastor(Taxation);DavidS.

Bernstein(DisputeResolution);TaniaBegazoGomez,AlexandreBorgesdeOliveira,MarthaMartinezLicetti,andGracielaMirallesMurcielagoa(MarketCompetition);andSergioMuro(BusinessInsolvency).

TheteamisgratefulforthevaluablecommentsprovidedbycolleaguesbothwithinandoutsidetheWorldBankGroup,andfortheguidance

providedbyWorldBankGroupExecutiveDirectors.Theteamwould

especiallyliketoacknowledgethecommentsandguidanceofOyaPinarArdicAlper,FranciscoAvendano,LuceroBurga,KuntayCelick,Joyce

AntoneIbrahim,RobertoN.FattalJaef,ElaineMacEachern,Collen

Masunda,HarishNatarajan,QuyenThucNguyen,TristanReed,MartijnGertJanRegelink,BobRijkers,LuzMariaSalamina,UmarSerajuddin,KhondokerTanveerHaider,andJohnWilson.TheteamalsobenefitedfromextensiveandvaluableexternalconsultationduringtheConceptNotestage.

ThereportwaseditedbyNancyMorrisonandSabraLedentandproofreadbyAnnO’MalleyandGwendaLarsen.DaniaKibbiandDebraNaylor

designedthereport.StephenPazdancoordinatedandoversawtheformal

productionofthereport.JewelMcFaddenmanagedtheoverallpublicationprocess.

B-READY2024wouldnotbepossiblewithouttheexpertiseandgenerousinputofanetworkofmorethan2,750localpartners,includinglegal

xiv?BusinessReady2024

experts,businessconsultants,accountants,freightforwarders,andotherprofessionalsroutinelyadministeringtooradvisingtheteamonthe

relevantlegalandregulatoryrequirementsinthe50economiescovered.Theteamisalsoverygratefultothe29,000firmsthatrespondedtotheEnterpriseSurveys.

1

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

Introduction

Avibrantprivatesectoriscentraltoeffortstoendextremepovertyandboostsharedprosperityonalivableplanet

.1

Whenitfunctionswell,theprivatesectorsparksinnovationandentrepreneurship.Itcanunlock

economicopportunitiesforpeoplewhoneedthemthemost.Itcandrivemoreefficientandsustainableuseofnaturalresources

.2

,3

Today,theprivatesectorgeneratesabout90percentofjobs,

4

75percentofinvestment,

5

morethan70percentof

output,6

andmorethan80percentofgovernmentrevenuesindevelopingeconomies

.7

Butithasbeenstalledsincetheglobalfinancialcrisisof2008–09.Privateinvestmentinthese

economieshasslowedsubstantially.Percapitainvestmentgrowthbetween2023and2024isexpectedtoaverageonly3.7percent,barelyhalftherateoftheprevioustwodecades

.8

Theprivatesectormustbecomemoredynamicandresilienttomeet

formidabledevelopmentchallenges.Inthecomingdecadealone,the

worldmustcreatejobsfor44millionyoungpeopleeachyear,30percentoftheminAfrica

.9

Toendextremepovertywithinadecade,mostlow-incomeeconomieswillneedtoachieveagrossdomesticproduct(GDP)percapitagrowthofabout9percenteachandeveryyear.

10

Toescapethe“middle-

incometrap,”developingeconomieswillneedaGDPpercapitagrowth

ofmorethan5percentperyearoverextendedperiods

.11

Totackleclimatechangeandachieveotherkeyglobaldevelopmentgoalsby2030,theyneedtosecureaheftyincreaseininvestment—aboutUS$2.4trillionperyear.

12

Thesechallengesarefarbeyondthecapacityofgovernmentstotackle

alone.Anyviableplanforovercomingthemwilldependonaparticular

typeofprivatesectordevelopment—onethatmobilizesprivatecapitalandmaximizesthebenefitsforbusinesses,entrepreneurs,workers,andsocietyasawhole.Thatrequiresansweringsomecriticalquestions.Whatexactly

aretheelementsofabusinessclimatethatcandeliversuchbenefits?Whicheconomieshavedonebestatcreatingthatclimate,andhowcanothers

learnfromthem?Whichpoliciesmustbeintroducedorrampedup?Whichshouldbephasedout?

AreproducibilitypackageisavailableforthisbookintheReproducibleResearchRepositoryat

/index.php/catalog/187

.

2?BusinessReady2024

Thisreportisdesignedtohelpeconomiesanswerthosequestions.Itisthefirstofanannualseriesthatwillassessthebusinessclimateofasuccessivelylargernumberofeconomiesoverthenextthreeyears,reachingworldwidecoverageby2026.Untilthen,itsdesignandmethodologywillevolvein

accordancewithlessonslearnedfromeachrolloutyear.

WhatisBusinessReady?

BusinessReady(B-READY)(/en/businessready)

isanewdatacollectionandanalysisprojectoftheWorldBankGrouptoassessthebusinessandinvestmentclimateworldwide,accompaniedbyanannualcorporateflagshipreport.ItisakeyinstrumentoftheWorld

BankGroup’snewstrategytofacilitateprivateinvestment,generate

employment,andimproveproductivitytohelpeconomiesaccelerate

developmentininclusiveandsustainableways.ItreplacesandimprovesupontheWorldBankGroup’searlierDoingBusinessproject(referto

boxES.1).Itreflectsamorebalancedandtransparentapproachtoward

evaluatinganeconomy’sbusinessandinvestmentclimate,buildingon

recommendationsfromhundredsofexpertsfromwithinandoutsidetheWorldBankGroup,includingfromgovernments,theprivatesector,and

civilsocietyorganizations.B-READYwillprovideaquantitativeassessmentofthebusinessenvironmentwithanannualfrequencyandworldwide

coverage.Theprojectaimstobalancedejureanddefactomeasures,

ensuringthatthedataproducedarebothcomparableacrosseconomiesandrepresentativewithineacheconomy.

BOXES.1

ComparisonofthekeyfeaturesofDoingBusinessandB-READY

WorldBankGroupandrecommendations

fromqualifiedacademicsandpractitioners

outsidetheinstitution,includingtheExternalPanelReviewonDoingBusinessmethodology(WorldBank2021),aswellasfeedbackfromanextensiveconsultationprocesswithpotentialusersingovernment,theprivatesector,and

civilsociety.

OnSeptember16,2021,thesenior

managementoftheWorldBankGroupdecidedtodiscontinuetheDoingBusinessreport

anddatacollection.Italsoannouncedthe

developmentofanewapproachforassessingthebusinessandinvestmentclimate:the

BusinessReady(B-READY)project.Thisnewprojectdrawsonadvicefromexpertsinthe

(Continued)

ExecutiveSummary?3

BOXES.1

ComparisonofthekeyfeaturesofDoingBusinessandB-READY(Continued)

WhilethefocusoftheDoingBusinessprojectwasonassessingthebusinessenvironmentforsmallandmediumenterprises,theB-READYprojecttargetsprivatesectordevelopment

asawhole.DoingBusinesscenteredontheregulatoryburdenforfirms,withsomeattentiontopublicservices.Incontrast,

B-READYevaluatestheregulatoryburdenaswellasthequalityofregulationsandprovisionofrelatedpublicservices,alongwiththeeaseofcompliancewiththeregulatoryframeworkandtheeffectiveuseofpublicservices

directlyrelevanttofirms.AlltopicsexaminedbyB-READYarestructuredunderthree

pillars:(I)RegulatoryFramework,(II)Public

Services,and(III)OperationalEfficiency.

Furthermore,thenewprojectassessesnot

onlytheabilitytoconductbusinessfor

individualfirms(firmflexibility),butalsothe

inclusiveandsustainableaspectsofprivate

sectordevelopment(socialbenefits).To

gatherdata,B-READYuses21questionnaires,comparedwith11questionnairesusedby

DoingBusiness.Initsfir