NZ again easiest place for business

SYDNEY - New Zealand has again topped a World Bank survey of business-friendly countries.

The country was named as the easiest place to do business out of 155 economies in Doing Business in 2006.

It was also top last year, but this time the bank based its ratings on 10 indicators, an increase of three on last year.

Singapore was second in the latest survey, United States third and Australia sixth. Zimbabwe was last.

The bank said all the top-ranking countries regulated businesses, but did so in less costly and burdensome ways.

The five Nordic countries - Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and Sweden - rated between five and 15. The bank said they had simple regulations that allowed businesses to be productive and focus intervention where it counted, in protecting property rights and providing social services.

The ease with which people could do business in a country was related to employment. New Zealand had 4.7 per cent unemployment when the survey was done, while Greece, with the worst OECD country rating of 80, had 10.9 per cent unemployment.

New Zealand was first for ease of registering property and protecting investors, second for dealing with licences and fourth for starting a business, hiring and firing, and enforcing contracts.

It was 15th for trading across borders, 16th for paying taxes and 21st for closing a business. New Zealand introduced no major regulatory reforms during the year.

While many countries lagged in encouraging business with regulatory reform, New Zealand had been one of the more "aggressive reformers" over the past 10 to 15 years, said Caralee McLiesh, senior economist on the World Bank's Doing Business project.

The bank had been speaking to the New Zealand Government over changes it had made or was making, but she said it was difficult to pinpoint any areas of major weakness.

"We know there are various other plans under way for continuing to improve and streamline regulations."

Finance Minister Michael Cullen hailed the result saying: "That New Zealand should compare so well internationally is a credit to the quality of our regulatory regime and to the Government's economic management."

- NZPA