Doing Business Reform Advisory

Examples of Our Work

Mauritania

In late 2007, Mauritania's Ministry of Private Sector Promotion assumed two "strategic missions" for the development of the country's investment climate: to increase the number of registered new firms in the country and to improve its ranking on the Doing Business indicators. Based on the findings of the Doing Business 2008 report, FIAS' Doing Business Reform Advisory group drafted specific recommendations on how Mauritania could improve its business environment. Within eight months, the government had passed its initial set of reforms. Three main areas have been improved:

• The process to formally register a business in Nouakchott is simpler due to a governmental decree streamlining the process for non-exporting companies. Smaller firms no longer need to apply to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Development to benefit from the incentive regime of the Investment Code, which typically required 45 days for application processing.
• Mauritania also passed a new building code to better regulate new construction. The law establishes a single window for processing building permits and sets statutory time limits for their approval. The law also limits the number of agencies from which builders must seek approvals.
• A new finance law lowered the minimum turnover tax.

The Doing Business Reform Advisory team and its partners across the World Bank Group continue to work with the Mauritanian government to deepen and broaden its reforms.

Azerbaijan

In Azerbaijan, the Doing Business Reform Advisory team advised the government to restructure the labor market in order to make it more flexible for job entrants, to tighten corporate governance requirements for large firms, and to broaden the scope of information the credit bureau makes available to banks, increasing funds available to businesses. The government also cut unnecessary steps in property registration and introduced online filing for taxes. In addition, a new one-stop shop for business start-up streamlined the process in Baku. In the first four months of operation, registrations jumped 40 percent.

Colombia

Colombia was among the top ten Doing Business reformers for the second year in a row. Since December 2007, the DB Reform Advisory team has been assisting the Colombian government to continue reforming. After the Doing Business Reform Advisory team delivered a reform memorandum and the sub-national Doing Business in Colombia report was launched, the government formed five working groups and concentrated on pushing through some key reforms. Before June 2008, Colombia reduced the time and cost to register a firm, cut the time to obtain a construction permit by 32 days (from 146 to 114), streamlined export and import processes (time declined by 10 and 5 days respectively), and made paying taxes easier: instead of 69 annual tax payments, an entrepreneur has to do 31, in large measure due to online filing and payment. Looking ahead, the team will assist the government to continue on the right track and focus on longer-term reforms.