UPFRONT NZ best for business

It’s official – New Zealand is the easiest place in the world to launch and run new business.
For the second year on the trot, we’ve topped list of 155 countries surveyed by the World Bank on the basis of their business friendliness. Doing Business in 2006 is the third in series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.
This year, countries were assessed on 10 indicators including two new ones – trading across borders and paying taxes. Others are starting and closing business, hiring and firing workers, enforcing contracts, registering property, getting credit, dealing with business licences and protecting investors.
The top 10 business-friendly economies were New Zealand, Singapore, the United States, Canada, Norway, Australia, Hong Kong, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Japan. Amongst emerging economies China was ranked 91, Indonesia 115 and India 116. Less business friendly are places like Sierra Leone where full payment of business taxes would devour 164 percent of company’s gross profit.