(MENAFN - Arab News) Saudi Arabia has emerged the fifth easiest place in the Arab world for starting investment projects.
According to Ease of Starting Business Index, the UAE is the easiest place in the Arab world for starting investment projects given its smooth procedures, according to the World Bank.
The report showed Egypt was ranked second in the Arab world by ease of starting business, followed by Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jordan and Qatar. Yemen was ranked 10th in the region, followed by Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, Kuwait, Algeria, Mauritania, Iraq, Palestine and Djibouti.
However, a Kuwaiti-based Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (IAIGC) report said there was not a single Arab country among the 20 top nations
"Three Arab states succeeded in moving ahead in the index, mainly the UAE which jumped 24 points to take the 22nd position, the other two are Morocco and Sudan," the report said, adding that Singapore has got the roping ranking in the index, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Britain, South Korea, Georgia, Australia and Finland. The last rankings in the index were given to three African countries - the Central African Republic (185), Chad (184) and Congo (183).
In its Ease of Starting Business Index for 2013, the Washington-based bank ranked the UAE the 22nd in the world and first in the Arab region. It noted that the country, the second largest Arab economy, jumped from the 46th rank in 2012.
The index, part of the Ease of Doing Business Index covering 185 countries, also classified the UAE the top nation in the world in terms of paying taxes after it was ranked 7th in 2012. The tax sub-index covered total number of tax years, labor tax, total tax rate to profits, time needed to pay tax and profit tax, which was put at zero, indicating the UAE does not impose taxes on corporate earnings.
The index, published in the latest monthly bulletin of the Kuwaiti-based Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (IAIGC), showed the UAE was ranked 13th in the world in terms of dealing with construction permits, 7th in getting electricity for the project, and 5th in trading across borders.
