Mexico is ranked among th
e world’s top fifty economies for ease of doing business, and shows improvement for the fourth consecutive year, according to a report just released by The World Bank’s “Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises” report.
The World Bank’s “Doing Business” report joins other internationally well-recognized sources, such as the World Economic Forum and the IMD, that demonstrate how Mexico is advancing in global competitiveness. As MexicoToday reported in recent months:
• Mexico has improved 13 positions in the past two years, as reported by The World Economic Forum.
• Mexico has improved 10 positions in the past two years, as reported by the IMD
• Mexico has improved six positions in the past two years, as reported by The World Bank’s Doing Business report
The “Doing Business” report assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 185 economies, including Mexico, and ranks the economies measured by ten areas of business regulation, including: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.
Key highlights of the “Doing Business” report:
• Mexico continues improving its ranking for the fourth consecutive year, rising by five positions compared to last year’s report
• Mexico is ranked 48 under the overall “ease of doing business” category, far surpassing all the BRIC countries, namely Brazil (130), Russia (112), India (132), and China (91)
• Under the “starting a business” ranking, Mexico showed a significant improvement to 36 from 75 compared to last year. According to the Mexican Economy Ministry, this improvement is largely due to the elimination of the minimum capital required to start a business, which used to be approximately US$5,000 for a corporation and US$300 for a Limited Liability Company.
• Under the “paying taxes” area, Mexico showed an improvement by two positions compared to last year’s report, to 107. As indicated by the report, Mexico has reduced by 78% the average number of times that taxes are paid in a year, from 27x in 2007 to only 6x in 2012. During this same five-year period, the time spent in paying taxes per year has reduced from 549 hours to 337 hours, representing a 39 percent improvement on time and resources for businesses.
