6 Nov 2010

Vanuatu and Samoa ranked as top performing countries for small businesses

10:52 am on 6 November 2010

An international report ranks Vanuatu and Samoa as the top performing Pacific countries in allowing small businesses to operate efficiently.

The World Bank and International Finance Corporation report is the eighth in a series of annual reports published by the two organisations.

For the first time in eight years, the report measuring the ease of doing business among 183 economies, showed East Asian and Pacific nations were among the most active in improving the regulatory climate in which local firms do business.

Vanuatu, ranked at 60, is the top performing country in the Pacific region, with Samoa second in the Pacific at 61.

Solomon Islands improved its ranking by 10 places to 96, Papua New Guinea moved up five places to 103.

And the Marshall Islands made the greatest improvement, moving up 15 places to 108.

World-wide it is easiest to do business in Singapore, Hong Kong SAR China, and New Zealand.