What's New?
Recent updates to World Bank Group financial and private sector development websites are highlighted below. Direct links to these sites are provided to the right.
- Doing Business in the Arab World: Arab economies have picked up the pace of business regulatory reform, according to Doing Business in the Arab World 2010. The report looks at the business regulatory environment of 20 Arab economies within the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 38 reforms were identified that made it easier to do business; two reforms made it more difficult. Read more...
- Highlights from Doing Business 2010: The number of reforms hit a record level this year. Between June 2008 and May 2009, 287 reforms were recorded in 131 economies. Low- and lower-middle-income economies set the fast pace - these economies accounted for two-thirds of reforms in 2008/09. Learn more...
This year's top reformers
Download report overview (PDF, 144KB)
- Pilot Infrastructure Indicator (Getting Electricity): Infrastructure services such as roads, water, electricity and telecommunications matter for private businesses. Doing Business has developed a pilot indicator measuring time and cost in 140 countries on the process a private business must go through to obtain an electricity connection. Learn more...
- Country Notes provide a customized snapshot of a country’s business environment relative to other economies surveyed in its geographic region. They include both analysis and policy recommendations. These 5-6 page documents highlight important differences in the investment climate between various firm subgroups such as exporters vs. non-exporters, business sectors, and different geographic locations within a country.
- Celebrating Reform 2009 case study: Case studies on Trinidad and Tobago, Serbia and Madagascar are available
- Doing Business in Russia: New subnational report explores business regulations in 10 Russian cities
- Celebrating Reform 2009 case study: China improves access to credit for small and medium enterprises
- Celebrating Reform 2009 case studies: Colombia's building permit processes and Albania's legal reforms
- Crisis Response Policy Briefs: New series of policy responses to the financial crisis available for download
- Business Planet: Entrepreneurship data from 70 countries now available
