Expert: Armenia’s progress in “Doing Business- 2013” delighting, but not satisfying

YEREVAN, November 2. /ARKA/. Armenia’s progress in the Doing Business – 2013 annual ranking is delighting, yet not satisfying, President of the Union of Local Manufacturers Vazgen Safaryan told journalists Thursday.

Armenia moved 18 places up, to the 50th place, in the Doing Business – 2013 ranking of the World Bank (WB) and the International Financial Corporation (IFC).

“I believe that the Doing Business – 2013 report is a really unbiased report that is important for our country’s image, but the ranking is based on the previous year indicators”, Safaryan said.

Safaryan stressed that the indicators should have had considerable impact on the country’s economy, particularly on increased wages and new jobs, which, according to him, has not happened.

Anyway, Armenia’s progress in the ranking is expected to promote investments in the Armenian economy, he said.

According to the information released on «Doing Business»' official website, Armenia is between the Netherlands (the 31st) and Belgium (the 33rd) in the new ranking, having left behind France (the 34th), Israel (the 38th), SAR (the 39th) and Spain (the 44th).

Singapore topped the ranking on Ease of Doing Business for the seventh successive year, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the USA, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain, Republic of Korea, Georgia and Australia.

Georgia is the leader among post Soviet Union countries (the 9th in the ranking) and is followed by Estonia (21st), Latvia (25th), Lithuania (27th), Armenia (32nd), Kazakhstan (49th), Belarus (58th), Azerbaijan (67th), Kyrgyzstan (70th), Moldova (83rd), Russia (112nd), Ukraine (137th), Tajikistan (141st) and Uzbekistan (154th). –0--