'Ease of Doing Business in 2016': World Bank ranks UAE first in Arab world

The World Bank released today a report on the ‘Ease of Doing Business for the year 2016’, which ranked the UAE first among Arab countries for the third year in a row, ahead of all countries in the region included in this year's report.

The World Bank report, which measures the performance of 189 states in facilitating doing business for investors, says the UAE has advanced one step in the ranking from last year to occupy 31st rank globally this year.

The UAE is among the first five countries in the world regarding non-payment of taxes, which does not affect business, process of construction permits and electricity delivery.

At the regional level, the UAE topped the countries of the region and within 10 countries of the world in the number of documented improvements by the World Bank during one year in the delivery of electricity, processing of the construction permits, protecting investors and enforcement of contracts.

The UAE was ranked first regionally in both dealing with the construction permits, the delivery of electricity, the protection of small investors and registering property and the non-payment of taxes, which does not affect business, processing construction permits and the enforcement of contracts.

The report also praised the four improvements carried out by the UAE.

The Ease of Doing Business report 2016 is one of the most periodic reports issued by the World Bank Group. This report is version 13 in a series of annual reports that measure the procedures and legislation, which promote the trade activity and investment in the states.

It offers quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies.

The report also measures all actions of improvements and obstacles affecting 10  areas in business.

On this occasion, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State and Chairperson of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, said in a statement today that the ease of doing business report includes a set of the most important global indicators that reflect the extent of interest and the interest of the Government of the United Arab Emirates towards local and international investors.

She noted that the report documents all the tremendous efforts made by the local and federal government agencies in order to facilitate and develop procedures and legislation for the sake of investors to support and develop their businesses to acquire competitiveness access to global entrepreneurship leadership.

Al Hashimi commended the UAE leadership and people on this important achievement, citing efforts of all local and federal government agencies that contributed to the planning and activation of procedural improvements for this year, and the positive impacts on improving the performance of the state in the report.

For his part, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, stressed the importance of investors and entrepreneurs, who are a growing category and one of the main pillars of effective economic planning.

He added that the developed countries take into account the Ease of Doing Business when drawing the general development policies.

He noted that the experiments and studies have proven beyond doubt the existence of a close relationship between attractive countries for investors, and strength and durability of the economic structure of those countries.

"Therefore, we have to pursue in the UAE permanent the latest practices and necessary global methodologies to overcome the obstacles that face investors and entrepreneurs, as this would enhance the economic sector and ensure improvement in the Global CompetitivenessReports to achieve the goals of the UAE Vision 2021."

UAE first in Mena and fourth globally in getting electricity

The UAE has, for the third consecutive year, been ranked first in the Middle East and North Africa, (Mena) and fourth globally in getting electricity, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2016 report, which measures the ease of doing business in 189 countries around the world.

"The ranking of the UAE as first in the Middle East and North Africa and fourth globally, adds to the UAE’s roster of achievements and top positions in different fields, and underlines its competitiveness and excellence compared to many developed countries around the world. At Dewa, we adhere to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to improve government services, make our citizens and residents happier and more satisfied with our services. Our aim is to contribute to the excellence of the UAE and enhance its competitiveness to achieve the UAE Vision 2021," said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD and CEO of Dewa.

"The status the UAE has reached globally is the result of the concerted efforts of local and federal work teams. We all work to achieve a single goal, which is the development of our country and the happiness of its people. This contributes to achieving the UAE Vision 2021 for the UAE to become one of the best countries in the world when we celebrate the golden jubilee of the Union. As Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid once observed, 'Working as a team, everybody takes part in building the UAE,'" added Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that Dewa has kept its position as the first in Mena and fourth globally even though the Doing Business 2016 report has broadened the scope of getting electricity indicators to offer a more complete view of the electricity sector. The report has added a new indicator to assess the reliability of electricity supply, which is important for business activities, by measuring both the duration and the frequency of power outages experienced by a customer in a year.

Dewa’s results are among the best internationally. Dewa’s 'customer minutes lost per year' in 2014 was 4.9 minutes, compared to 15 minutes recorded by leading utilities in the European Union. Dewa has achieved several milestones globally, surpassing major European and American companies in different areas. For example, losses in power transmission and distribution networks decreased to 3.26 per cent, compared to 6-7 per cent in Europe and the USA. Water network losses decreased to 9.1 per cent, compared to 15 per cent in North America.

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