2012年-世界发展银行全球_Doing_Business_Economy_Profile_2013___Palau_113页_1mb

Palau Economy Profile Summary - Doing Business 2013

Core Content

The Doing Business 2013 report provides a detailed analysis of the business environment in Palau, focusing on regulations affecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It measures and ranks the ease of doing business across 11 key areas, including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, and employing workers. The data are based on the standardized company model, which assumes a private limited liability company located in the largest business city (Koror), with 10–50 employees and engaged in general commercial or industrial activities.

Key Indicators and Rankings

Main Points

1. Ease of Doing Business Index

• Palau ranks 111 out of 185 economies in the global ease of doing business index.
• The ranking has slightly declined from 109 in 2012 to 111 in 2013, indicating a minor deterioration in the business environment.
• The index is calculated as the simple average of percentile rankings across 10 topics: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

2. Starting a Business

• Procedures: 8 procedures required to start a business.
• Time: 28 days to complete the process.
• Cost: 5.2% of income per capita.
• Paid-in Minimum Capital: 13.8% of income per capita.
• Palau is relatively close to the global best performer in this area, but it still has room for improvement.

3. Dealing with Construction Permits

• Rank: 44
• Procedures: 22
• Time: 93 days
• Cost: 7.6% of income per capita
• Palau performs better than most comparator economies but still lags behind the global best performer (Hong Kong SAR, China).

4. Getting Electricity

• Rank: 78
• Procedures: 5
• Time: 125 days
• Cost: 173.8% of income per capita
• Palau has one of the higher costs for electricity compared to other economies, though the number of procedures is relatively low.

5. Registering Property

• Rank: 17
• Procedures: 5
• Time: 14 days
• Cost: 0.4% of property value
• Palau performs well in this area, ranking among the top in the region and close to the global best performer (Georgia).

6. Getting Credit

• Rank: 185
• Strength of Legal Rights Index: 1 (out of 10)
• Depth of Credit Information Index: 0 (out of 6)
• Cost: 35.3% of claim
• Palau has one of the worst rankings for credit accessibility, indicating significant challenges for businesses in obtaining credit.

7. Protecting Investors

• Rank: 177
• Strength of Investor Protection Index: 2.7 (out of 10)
• Extent of Disclosure Index: 0 (out of 10)
• Extent of Director Liability Index: 0 (out of 10)
• Palau performs poorly in investor protection, with very low scores on disclosure and director liability.

8. Paying Taxes

• Rank: 83
• Payments (Number per Year): 11
• Time (Hours per Year): 142
• Cost: 5.2% of income per capita
• Palau's tax system is relatively efficient compared to other economies in the region but still has room for improvement.

9. Trading Across Borders

• Rank: 108
• Documents to Export: 5
• Time to Export: 29 days
• Cost to Export: $970 per container
• Palau has a moderate ranking in this area, with a relatively low number of export documents and moderate export times.

10. Enforcing Contracts

• Rank: 146
• Time: 810 days
• Cost: 35.3% of claim
• Palau has one of the worst contract enforcement rankings globally, indicating a significant challenge for businesses in enforcing legal agreements.

11. Resolving Insolvency

• Rank: 71
• Time: 1.0 year
• Cost: 23% of estate
• Recovery Rate: 38.6 cents on the dollar
• Palau performs better than many comparator economies but still has room for improvement in resolving insolvency.

Key Information

• Regional Context: Palau is part of the East Asia & Pacific region, classified as an upper middle-income economy.
• Population: 20,609
• GNI per capita: $7,250
• Data Sources: The Doing Business database and related reports.
• Methodology: The report uses a standardized company model to measure procedures, time, and costs for starting and operating a business.
• Comparative Analysis: The report includes data for comparator economies and regional averages to provide context for Palau's performance.

Summary of Reforms

• No significant reforms were recorded in Palau for the period from 2008 to 2013 as measured by the Doing Business methodology.
• The report suggests that Palau's business environment has not significantly improved over the past few years.

Conclusion

The Doing Business 2013 report highlights that while Palau has some strengths in areas such as property registration, it faces significant challenges in credit accessibility, contract enforcement, and investor protection. These findings can support policymakers in identifying areas for reform and improving the overall business environment.