SA moves up in global business survey

South Africa has moved up three places to 32 out of 181 economies surveyed in the latest World Bank 2009 report on Doing Business, which measures a range of regulations affecting everyday business dealings. South Africa’s improved ranking can largely be attributed to reforms in two key areas – ease of starting a business and reforms to the systems for paying taxes. According to the World Bank findings, South Africa also remained globally competitive with regard to the ease of getting credit as well as the protection offered to investors. The World Bank has admitted to the limitations of the Doing Business Report and of the methodology used to compare countries. Business Unity South Africa has expressed concern about the way in which South Africa is assessed by the World Bank for this study, particularly against some of the key indicators such as trading across borders.