Mexico and other selected countries.
Mexico has become a slightly better place to do business having gained four places, moving from 43rd place to 39th, in international rankings released today by the World Bank.
The bank’s annual Doing Business report measures and and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting one, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation.
Mexico scored higher than all the so-called BRIC countries: Russia placed 62nd, China 90th, Brazil 120th and India 142nd out of the 189 countries measured.
In Latin America, Mexico is in third place behind Colombia, in 34th, and Peru 35th.
Singapore placed first, followed by New Zealand and Hong Kong.
The report has had its critics in the past, notably China, but changes were made this year to the methodology. For Mexico those changes have given it a more favorable ranking than it received in previous years.
The improvement is also due in part to the improved economic outlook created by structural reforms, said Finance Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso in commenting on the report.
Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villareal pointed to improved regulatory processes, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses as another reason for it being easier to do business in Mexico, while conceding at the same time there are issues to be dealt with.
“. . . although we have big challenges to attend to, in the government we continue working to make Mexico an increasingly more attractive place to invest.”
The World Bank also notes in its report that its methodology has some limitations. Other areas that are important to business—such as an economy’s proximity to large markets, the quality of many of its infrastructure services, the security of property from theft and the transparency of government procurement among other things are not directly studied by Doing Business.
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