St Lucia tops in CARICOM for ease of doing business, says World Bank

NEW YORK, USA, Wednesday October 31, 2012 – St Lucia is the top-ranked CARICOM country for ease of doing business, according to the 2013 World Bank Doing Business rankings.

St Lucia copped the top CARICOM spot for the second straight year, ranking 53rd worldwide on the list, although that represented a minimal drop from its ranking of 52nd in the 2012 report.

Puerto Rico placed highest overall in the Caribbean for the ease of doing business, coming in at 41st out of 185 countries worldwide.

‘Doing Business 2013: Smarter Regulations For Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises’, released last week, explores how business-friendly regulations in each of the territories are, covering areas from starting a business to resolving insolvency.

This year’s 282-page report covered data measured from June 2011 through May 2012.

Coming in at second in CARICOM was Antigua and Barbuda, which was ranked 63rd overall, followed by Dominica at 68th, Trinidad and Tobago at 69th, and St Vincent and the Grenadines at 75th.

The Bahamas was ranked 77th, ahead of Barbados at 88th, Jamaica at 90th, St Kitts and Nevis at 96th, and Grenada at 100th.

Belize, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, and Suriname trailed behind, with Haiti occupying the lowest ranking in the region at 174th.

Worldwide, Singapore topped the rankings for the seventh straight year.

Source: Read more: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/629791.html#ixzz2AtxbzcQX