April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea ranked fourth in terms of business environment among 190 countries this year, a report by the World Bank showed on Oct. 31.

According to the organization’s annual “Doing Business 2018” ranking report, the country moved up one notch from a year earlier to a record-high rank.

Every year, the World Bank analyzes 189 countries’ business environments by breaking them down into 10 broad categories in accordance with the business life cycle from start to closure.

The report checks legal and administrative rules and practices, as well as feedback from experts and businessmen from related fields, and is designed to provide the best practice benchmarks that can be followed by developing countries.

New Zealand stood at the top for providing the best business environment, followed by Singapore and Denmark. Hong Kong fell to fifth this year, the report showed.

In terms of legal settlement, the country maintained its top spot, outperforming 189 other countries in the world, for low legal costs and simplified legal procedures.

Seoul’s ranking in regards to providing electricity moved down one notch from the previous year‘s highest position, the report showed.

On the downside, however, Korea slid to 33rd in customs administrations, while its ranking in dealing with construction permits moved up 31st from 28th.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)