World Bank says Occupy protests fail to impact Hong Kong's business climate
The Occupy protests have not affected Hong Kong's business climate, says the World Bank, which rates the city as the third easiest place in the world to do business.
The Occupy protests have not affected Hong Kong's business climate, says the World Bank Group, which in its annual report released yesterday rates the city as the third easiest place in the world to do business.
"We have to distinguish … between the financial and economic impact of the demonstrations [and] the overall business climate," she said. "For the pro-democracy campaign to have any impact on Doing Business indicators it really [would] have to change something about the rules and regulations and their enforcement when it comes to trading, starting a business, registering property."
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The report - which looks at 10 indicators such as the speed and cost of obtaining credit, construction permits and paying taxes in 189 economies in the year ending in June - does not measure market stability or investor confidence.
"From what we can see here, as long as transparency is strong, there's good corporate governance rules, and we have business-friendly rules and regulations, the investment climate really should stay intact, and that seems to be the case right now [in Hong Kong]," Werner said.
Hong Kong ran second to Singapore in the previous four years as the easiest place to do business. It fell to third this year, behind New Zealand.
The World Bank Group said it introduced major changes to data sources and used a new methodology under which Hong Kong would have ranked third last year with a score lower than it got this year.
Hong Kong's scores varied significantly across the 10 indicators, said Valentina Saltane, a co-author of the report. It has improved on its protection for minority shareholders to become the world's second best because of higher disclosure standards introduced in the revised Companies Ordinance that came into effect in March.
While it is again the world's easiest place for obtaining construction permits, it ranked 96th when it came to registering property, with as many as five procedures involved. This meant it took 35.5 days to complete registration, at a cost of 7.7 per cent of the property's value. It also became more expensive to start a business because a registration fee waiver expired in April.
A Hong Kong government spokesman said in response to the report: "The government will strive to cut red tape, eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulations on business, enhance regulatory efficiency and reduce business compliance costs, with a view to further improving the ease of doing business in Hong Kong."
Mainland China has moved up three places in the rankings - to 90th - as it made it easier to start a business by eliminating minimum capital requirements.
Paying taxes has also become easier because of an improved electronic system, and companies in Shanghai pay less tax because of a reduction in social security contributions.
