World Bank says Singapore still ideal place for business start-ups. - Singapore, Hong-Kong and New Zealand are, in chronological order, the most business-friendly countries for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) according to the most recent annual report, “Doing Business”, published by the World Bank. The report draws up an overview of the situation overthe June, 2012 - May 2013 period. The World Bank has sometimes been criticised for the methods it uses and some of the areas analysed and it recognises that its survey is just a snapshot of one aspect of competitiveness but that these analyses, however, encourage countries to reform. The report assesses regulations in 189 countries and which have an impact on eleven stages of a company's life cycle: start-up; obtaining a licence to build; electricity connection; transfer of property; obtaining loans; protecting investors; paying taxes; cross-border trade; fulfilling contracts; insolvency regulation and employing workers. The Top 5 in the rankings are the same as last year. Behind the leading trio is the US, in fourth place and Denmark, in fifth. Chad, preceded by the Central African Republic and Libya, brings up the rear. In comparison to last year, several European countries have lost competitiveness. The United Kingdom has fallen from 7th to 10th place, Germany from 20th to 21st place, France from 34th to 38th, Spain from 44th to 52nd, Romania from 72nd to 73rd the Czech Republic from 65th to 75th. Italy and Greece have risen a few places: eight places for Italy, from 73rd to 65th place, and six places for Greece, from 78th to 72nd place. Many European countries remain highly placed in the rankings and in the Top 20. Norway sits in 9th position, Finland 12th, Iceland 13th, Sweden 14th, Ireland 15th and Lithuania 17th. China's poor position should also be underlined. Last year it was already in a lowly 91st ranking and this year it has fallen even further to the 96th place. Overall, the World Bank has observed that governments across the world significantly increased the pace of improving business regulation in 114 economies last year. The World Bank welcomes this trend because it is creating the foundations for developing local entrepreneurship. Nine African countries are among the 20 countries that made the most progress in this field: Burundi, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, Togo, Benin, Guinea, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Disparities, however, are still enormous between the different countries. For example, whilst one day is required to set up a business in New Zealand (3rd place), more than 140 forty days are needed in Venezuela (181st). (IL/transl.fl)