Jamaica ranks #6 for ease of starting a business, World Bank Report

Jamaica ranks number six among the best globally in the area of starting a business and among the top 20 countries in the “Getting Credit Indicator”, according to the World Bank Group's 2019 Doing Business Report.

The starting a business ranking was achieved because “it takes only two procedures and three days for an entrepreneur to start up and formally operate a business” and “comprehensive credit reporting systems” were credited for the ranking in the “Getting Credit Indicator.”

The report says economies in Latin America and the Caribbean carried out 25 reforms during the past year to improve the ease of doing business for domestic small and medium enterprises. 

Of the 25 reforms, seven were in the area of “getting credit.”
 
This year, Jamaica, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada, the report said, all improved access to credit information through the introduction of regulations and by improving the functioning of their credit bureaus.

The Dominican Republic strengthened protection of minority investors by increasing the independence of boards of directors.

For several Caribbean countries including Jamaica, ranked at 75, there have been improvements in absolute terms on the ease of doing business, which shows that the countries are getting closer to global best practices in business regulations, said the report.

It highlighted that these are not translated into improvements in ranking due to the pace of reforms in the other economies.

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