Nearshore Americas
world bank index

World Bank Ranks Mexico as Best Place to Do Business in LatAm

The World Bank has ranked Mexico as the best country to do business in Latin America, placing it 47th in its new global index.
Mexico has improved its score on registering property, enforcing contracts, dealing with construction permits, and resolving insolvency.
Business registration reforms in Mexico also resulted in 14.9% of informal business owners shifting to the formal economy. Even so, the World Bank has suggested it reform taxation laws and further ease the process of launching a new business.
Considering the report, launching a business is easier in Colombia than in Mexico. In today’s Colombia, according to the report, even registering a property and getting permission for construction has become easier than before.
Between 2012 and 2016, the Mexican states of Colima, Estado de México, Puebla, San Luis Potosí, and Sinaloa reformed in all four areas measured by the project. The lender has recorded a total of 252 regulatory improvements across all states in Mexico to date.
The region as a whole as performed well on the index, with the bank saying that over two-thirds of the region’s economies implemented a total of 32 reforms in the past year, compared with 24 reforms the previous year.
For the first time, the ‘Ease of Doing Business Report’ seems to have recognized increased cross-border trade in the region.
Colombia is ranked closely behind Mexico, but Brazil and Venezuela have found their place sliding dramatically on the index.
“Business reform activity accelerated in Latin America and the Caribbean,” says the report. When it comes to implementing reforms, Brazil is ahead of all other countries. But Brazil has slipped on the Index, largely due to political chaos, corruption scandals and the resultant confusion in the corporate corridors.
Considering the report, Brazil, ranked 123, needs to reform laws related resolving business insolvency and pay attention to increasing electricity generation.
Thanks largely to its taxation laws, Chile now lags behind Colombia and Peru and is ranked fourth in the region, with Costa Rica close behind.
Venezuela is one of the four worst places to do business in the region — even war-torn South Sudan performed better.

Sign up for our Nearshore Americas newsletter:

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

Add comment