Caribbean countries improve environment to attract investments

The World Bank said on Wednesday that Caribbean governments have been intensifying their reform efforts in order to attract foreign investment, according to a report on www.cananews.net.



In the seventh edition of \"Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times,\" the bank said regional economies \"tend to be inspired by the reform activity\" of their neighbours.



\"Caribbean economies have intensified efforts to improve the business environment this year,\" said Sylvia Solf, lead author of the report.



The Washington-based financial institution said Grenada eased contract enforcement and improved customs administration while St. Kitts and Nevis implemented an electronic data interchange system that expedited cross-border trade.



The report, which noted several Caribbean countries said St. Lucia eased business start-up by introducing an electronic company registration system.



\"With ongoing training of customs agents and brokers, and implementation of electronic reference sources, Grenada has reduced the time for trading across Borders,\" the report said.



It said St. Vincent and the Grenadines made it easier to start a business by reducing the corporate income tax rate from 37.5 to 35 per cent, \"to be further reduced to 32.5 per cent from 2009 onward\".



\"Business start-up was eased by abolishing the requirement to have a company seal,\" the World Bank said, noting that in Jamaica, the Bruce Golding government cut the property transfer tax from 6.5 per cent of property value to five per cent.



Of Guyana, it said the Bharrat Jagdeo administration eased business start-up by \"applying a flat registration fee for all companies, regardless of their capital amount,\" and removing the duty payable on incorporation.