2013年-世界发展银行全球_Doing_Business_2014_Economy_Profile___Tonga_106页_1mb

Doing Business 2014: Tonga Summary

Core Content

The Doing Business report evaluates the ease of doing business in 189 economies, focusing on regulations affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across 11 areas of the business life cycle. For Tonga, the report provides an overview of regulatory performance, highlighting areas where reforms have been made and where challenges persist.

Key Information

Economy Overview

• Region: East Asia & Pacific
• Income Category: Upper middle income
• Population: 104,941
• GNI per capita (US$): 4,240
• DB2014 Rank: 57
• DB2013 Rank: 60 (adjusted for data corrections and new economies)
• Change in Rank: +3
• Distance to Frontier (DTF) 2014: 66.48
• DTF 2013: 65.45
• Change in DTF: +0.98

Main Topics Covered

• Starting a business
• Dealing with construction permits
• Getting electricity
• Registering property
• Getting credit
• Protecting investors
• Paying taxes
• Trading across borders
• Enforcing contracts
• Resolving insolvency
• Employing workers

Main Findings

Starting a Business

• Rank: 42 (out of 189)

• Procedures: 4

• Time (days): 16.0

• Cost (% of income per capita): 7.7

• Paid-in Minimum Capital (% of income per capita): 0.0

• Improvements over time: In 2012, Tonga implemented an electronic system at the registry, reducing the time for name verification and company registration. However, the cost for name search, registration, and business license increased.

• Comparators:

  • Australia: Rank 4, Time 2.5 days, Cost 0.7%
  • Kiribati: Rank 156, Time 31.0 days, Cost 22.7%
  • Marshall Islands: Rank 56, Time 17.0 days, Cost 12.8%
  • New Zealand: Best performer, Rank 1, Time 0.5 days, Cost 0.0%

Dealing with Construction Permits

• Rank: 35

• Procedures: 13

• Time (days): 69.0

• Cost (% of income per capita): 96.2

• Comparators:

  • Hong Kong SAR, China: Rank 1, Time 26.0 days, Cost 1.1%
  • Singapore: Best performer, Time 17.0 days, Cost 0.0%
  • Samoa: Rank 20, Time 28.0 days, Cost 0.3%

Getting Electricity

• Rank: 30

• Procedures: 5

• Time (days): 42

• Cost (% of income per capita): 94.4

• Comparators:

  • Iceland: Best performer, Rank 1, Time 17 days, Cost 0.0%
  • Germany: Rank 3, Time 47.0 days, Cost 0.0%

Registering Property

• Rank: 146

• Procedures: 4

• Time (days): 112.0

• Cost (% of property value): 15.1

• Comparators:

  • New Zealand: Best performer, Rank 1, Time 1.0 day, Cost 0.0%
  • Portugal: Rank 4, Time 100.0%, Cost 100.0%
  • Georgia: Rank 1, Time 1.0 day, Cost 0.0%

Getting Credit

• Rank: 55

• Strength of Legal Rights Index (0-10): 9

• Depth of Credit Information Index (0-6): 2

• Cost (% of property value): 15.1

• Comparators:

  • Malaysia: Best performer, Rank 1
  • Australia: Rank 3, Strength of Legal Rights Index 10

Protecting Investors

• Rank: 115

• Strength of Investor Protection Index (0-10): 4.7

• Extent of Disclosure Index (0-10): 3

• Extent of Director Liability Index (0-10): 3

• Ease of Shareholder Suits Index (0-10): 8

• Comparators:

  • New Zealand: Best performer, Rank 1
  • Japan: Rank 1, Strength of Investor Protection Index 9.7

Paying Taxes

• Rank: 51

• Payments (number per year): 30

• Time (hours per year): 182

• Cost (% of income per capita): 7.7

• Comparators:

  • United Arab Emirates: Best performer, Rank 1
  • Hong Kong SAR, China: Rank 3, Time 12 hours, Cost 0.0%

Trading Across Borders

• Rank: 63

• Documents to Export: 6

• Time to Export (days): 22

• Cost to Export (US$ per container): 505

• Comparators:

  • Singapore: Best performer, Rank 1
  • Ireland: Rank 2, Cost 450 US$

Enforcing Contracts

• Rank: 48

• Time (days): 350

• Cost (% of claim): 30.5

• Comparators:

  • Luxembourg: Best performer, Rank 1
  • Bhutan: Rank 1, Cost 0.1%

Resolving Insolvency

• Rank: 118

• Time (years): 2.7

• Cost (% of estate): 22

• Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar): 26.1

• Comparators:

  • Japan: Best performer, Rank 1
  • Ireland: Rank 1, Time 0.4 years, Cost 1%

Methodology Notes

• The ease of doing business index is based on the simple average of percentile rankings on 10 topics.
• Distance to Frontier (DTF) measures how far an economy is from the best practices in each indicator, normalized to 0–100.
• The report does not cover all aspects of the business environment, such as proximity to markets or infrastructure quality (excluding electricity and trade).
• Standardized company assumptions are used for data collection: located in the largest business city, 100% domestically owned, limited liability, 10–50 employees, and conducting general commercial or industrial activities.

Conclusion

Tonga's business environment has seen modest improvements in some areas, but it remains relatively challenging compared to other economies. The report highlights the importance of continued regulatory reforms to improve the ease of doing business, particularly in areas such as property registration and contract enforcement.