World Bank will compare the investment environment in countries with “B-READY”
The World Bank is preparing to publish the first of its “Business Ready (B-READY)” report, which will evaluate the ease of doing business in countries, this year, after it stopped the publication of the Doing Business report, which compares the business and investment environment in economies, due to inconsistencies detected in the data.
The Bank will publish its new report on the evaluation of the business and investment environment in the countries on September 25, approximately 3 years after the publication of the Ease of Doing Business Report was stopped.
In the B-READY report, where the business and investment environment in most economies around the world will be compared, the regulatory framework and public services for companies will be evaluated.
The report will look at how effectively the regulatory framework and public services are brought together in practice.
With comparable data across economies and over time, the B-READY report will provide actionable findings to spur reforms for a stronger private sector.
Focuses on 10 issues regarding companies’ market participation
B-READY, which will be published in place of the Ease of Doing Business Report, aims to measure the quality of the regulatory framework every year, the provision of public services that support companies and markets, and how efficiently these are brought together in practice.
The report focuses on 10 topics related to the firm’s life cycle and market participation, including the process of opening, operating or expanding and closing a business. These topics include employment, workplace, public services, workforce, financial services, international trade, taxation, dispute resolution, market competition and business bankruptcy.
While the issues under the trade heading include the quality of regulations for international trade, public services, efficiency of import and export of goods, and participation in digital trade, it is stated that the data was collected through expert interviews and company surveys.
It is noted that the B-READY report evaluates the business environment more holistically than its predecessor and considers not only the perspective of a single company’s ease of doing business, but also the perspective of the private sector as a whole.
It is stated that the report examines not only the regulatory burden on companies, but also the quality of regulations and the conditions of relevant public services throughout the life cycle of companies.
In the first stage, the investment environment in 51 countries will be evaluated.
It is envisaged that B-READY’s pilot report will gradually cover 185 economies worldwide in three editions. Three pilot reports are planned to be published from 2024 to 2026. Thus, it is aimed to create a basis for the entire data set and allow the methodology to be fully developed.
Currently, data on the 51 economies that will be covered in the first B-READY report is being collected and analyzed. It is planned to publish evaluations regarding the business and investment environment in 62 economies in the second phase and 72 economies in the third phase.
It is stated that Turkey, which is among the countries to be evaluated in the second stage, will participate in “B-READY” in 2025.
Publication of the Ease of Doing Business Report was suspended in 2021
The Ease of Doing Business Report, considered one of the most important reports of the World Bank, was first published in 2003, covering 133 economies.
The World Bank’s annual Doing Business Report recently evaluated 190 countries in terms of business environment regulations.
The report ranked countries based on their regulatory and legal environments, ease of starting a business, financing, infrastructure and other business environment measures.
The Ease of Doing Business Report analyzed business regulations that affect the investment environment in countries, such as property rights, paying taxes, electricity supply and starting a business.
The World Bank announced on September 16, 2021 that the publication of the Ease of Doing Business Report would not continue after an investigation into data irregularities determined that senior bank officials pressured staff to change the data affecting China’s ranking.
In the statement made by the bank, it was stated that after data irregularities were reported in the 2018 and 2020 issues of the Ease of Doing Business Report, the World Bank Management suspended the publication of the report and a series of reviews and audits were initiated regarding the report and its methodology.
As a result of the investigation into data irregularities, senior officials, including International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Kristalina Georgieva, who was the Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank at the time, and then World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, reported that the bank was seeking support from China for a major capital increase. At one time, China was found to be pressuring economists to improve its rankings.
IMF President Georgieva objected to the findings of the investigation and stated that she did not agree with the findings regarding her role in the 2018 Ease of Doing Business Report in the report published as a result of the investigation into data irregularities.
The World Bank’s decision to suspend the publication of the Ease of Doing Business Report and the findings of the investigation had a great impact in the international economic community and brought the reliability of the reports of international organizations to the agenda.