Business Environment Significantly Improves According to the World Bank Doing Business Report

The World Bank Doing Business Report 2018, published on 31 October 2017, confirms the significant progress made in improving the business environment, where Kosovo has increased its ranking to 40th in the world, from a total of 190 countries included in the report. Furthermore, Kosovo is the only European country among the ranks of 10 Top Reformers during this reporting period. For more information, see the full report at http://www.doingbusiness.org/

According to the Report, Kosovo continued improving the business environment through increased cooperation and coordination of reforms between relevant institutions under the coordination of the Doing Business Task Force led by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), with the support of the World Bank in Kosovo and USAID Partnerships for Development Project.

Kosovo made progress in several indicators. In particular, significant progress was made in the indicators for:

• Starting a Business, due to further improvements in business registration operations and the implementation of internal performance metrics for the provision of business registration services;

• Getting Credit, due to increased protections for secured creditors in bankruptcy proceedings;

• Resolving Insolvency, due to the introduction of a modern legal framework, consistent with international best practice, for corporate insolvency, including making liquidation and reorganization procedures with the support of USAID Contract Law Enforcement Program.

Since 2012, Kosovo has improved 86 places in the annual Doing Business Report, with improvement across all indicators, including in Starting a Business which has improved by 160 places, currently ranked 10^th in the world.

These improvements are a result of the continuous engagement of the Government of Kosovo, through the Doing Business Task Force led by MTI as well as the specialized working groups for each of the ten indicators of the World Bank Doing Business Report which are led by the responsible ministries for the respective areas.

Reforms focused on the World Bank Doing Business Report are a valuable tool for greater EU approximation, improved governance, the removal of opportunities for corruption, and removal of barriers to formalization.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry, as the leading body for this process has already begun making necessary preparations with the support of key counterparts including the World Bank and USAID for further continuing these reforms and ensuring that the progress achieved to date is maintained and further intensified.