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Fiji’s status as one of the easiest countries in the Pacific in which to do business just got knocked back in the latest annual ranking released by the World Bank.
The World Bank’s Doing Business 2010, which tracks business reforms in more than 180 countries and then ranks these countries on how easy it is to do business in them, sees Fiji slipping to 54th place, out of 183 countries across the world.
This is a drop from its 43rd place ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2009.
This however does not downplay the reforms that have been instituted in Fiji, with the World Bank saying Pacific economies, including Fiji, continued to pick up on their pace of reforms.
“The reason for Fiji's slip in this year's ranking is due to changes in the corporate income tax rate. Fiji cut its corporate income tax rate from 31 percent to 29 percent. But the compliance time for taxes increased because of a requirement to prepare two pay as you earn (PAYE) employee certificates and PAYE annual summaries instead of the usual one,” Sara King, Communications Assistant at the World Bank’s Sydney office told Fiji Live.
“In addition, a road use levy has been imposed on all vehicles. These changes occurred in an environment whereby other Pacific nations were reforming, which also contributed to Fiji's slip.”
Fiji’s top place ranking compared to other countries in the Pacific was overtaken by Tonga, who came in at 52nd place in this latest ranking, while star Pacific economy Samoa improved its ranking from 68 in 2009 to 57th place, although still behind Fiji.
The World Bank said despite the difficult business environment globally, where governments around the world faced challenging financial issues, many governments still implemented regulatory reforms, making it easier to do business in the 2008/2009 year than in any year since 2004, when Doing Business started.
“Reformers focused on making it easier to start and operate a business, strengthening property rights and improving the efficiency of commercial dispute resolution and bankruptcy procedures,” the World Bank said.
