For the second year in a row, Singapore was ranked the world's easiest place to do business, followed by New Zealand and the United States, the World Bank's annual 'Doing Business' report said on Wednesday.

The report showed that while China and India are making progress in implementing business-friendly reforms, several East Asian countries are falling behind the pace of reforms in much of the rest of the world. Cambodia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan recorded no net improvement in any of the 10 areas studied by the report, compared to Egypt, the top reformer, which made progress in five areas, according to the International Finance Corporation, the bank's private sector arm.

What we're seeing here is a region that continues to do quite well economically but perhaps runs the risk of being left behind simply because it's not keeping up with the pace of business reform,' said Justin Yap, an author of the report, which compares business regulations in 178 economies. Rounding out the rest of the top 10 in ease of doing business, the report ranked Hong Kong fourth, followed by Denmark, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia and Iceland.

The countries considered least business-friendly were, from the bottom, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Congo, Burundi, Chad and Venezuela. 'It's also a country that seems to require relatively few interactions with government, for example, with the use of one-stop shops,' he said. 'Generally things are seen to run quite smoothly, take a short time and not cost very much.'

Several Eastern European countries, including Croatia, Macedonia, Georgia and Bulgaria, dominated the list of top reformers, with some of the region's countries surpassing Western European economies in making regulations conducive to business, the bank said.

The 'Doing Business' report tracks a set of regulatory indicators related to business start-up, operation, trade, payment of taxes and closure by measuring the time and cost associated with various government requirements.

It does not track variables such as economic policies, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions or crime rates

Estonia, the most business friendly of the former socialist bloc, ranks 17, and together with Georgia, 18, is ahead of Belgium, 19, Germany, 20, the Netherlands, 21, France, 31, Spain, 38, and Italy, 53. Egypt topped the list of reformers by cutting minimum capital requirements by 98 per cent and halving the startup time and cost.

In China, reforms included a new property law that put private property rights on equal footing as state property rights and expanded the range of assets that can be used as collateral. A new bankruptcy law gives secured creditors priority to the proceeds from their collateral. Construction became easier with electronic processing of building permits reducing delays by two weeks. Overall, the country is in 83rd place for ease of doing business.

India also was speeding up its reforms, enabling online submissions of customs declarations and payment of customs fees, reducing the time it takes to meet all administrative requirements to export from 27 days in 2006 to 18 as well as expanding the credit bureau to include payment histories on businesses as well as individuals. India was ranked 120th in the overall list.

New tax incentives announced for newly setup companies

To encourage foreign entrepreneurs to setup their business in Singapore, the Government has declared a full tax exemption for newly incorporated companies. With the introduction of new tax cuts and incentives, Singapore has become the best place to incorporate and operate your business. Newly incorporated Singapore companies will enjoy a full-tax exemption on $100K annual profits during the first three years of their business.

According to Ragini Dhanvantray, CEO of Rikvin Consultancy, Singapore is fast becoming the business city of choice, having had the recognition of excellent business infrastructure, political stability, and close economic ties with many of the world's leading economies, there has never been better time than now, to set up your business in Singapore.

For Client who would like to set up your singapore business and secure your business Migration visa, please visit our website at http://www.rikvin.com for more information.

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About Rikvin consultancy Pte Ltd:

Rikvin consultancy started in 1995 is an incorporation specialist specializing in company incorporation, registration and administration processing for all business types and sizes in Singapore and throughout the world. Rikvin facilitates foreign entrepreneurs’ immigration into Singapore by assisting in obtaining Entrepass fro themselves and their families and employment pass for their employees. Rikvin also provides a full range of accounting services for companies who require a complete and properly constructed set of financial statements for their business purposes. For further information visit www.rikvin.com