Bhutan still worse for doing business

New Delhi, September 11: The World Bank has ranked Bhutan as the second worst nation for doing business among the South Asian countries despite minor changes in the legal system.

In its new report entitled ‘Doing Business 2009’, the bank has ranked Bhutan as second last nation in the South Asian region in terms of investment friendly.

Maldives tops the region while Afghanistan remains at the bottom of the list. Despite political changes from absolute monarchy to ‘democratic system’, Bhutan ranks friendlier only than Afghanistan.  

The report said, “South Asia has seen five reforms in the past year in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and India. Reforms over the period of 2004 – 2008 have been steady, with most reforms in registering property and trading across borders.”

“Bhutan made it easier to enforce contracts by creating a Land Commission to handle cases involving the transfer of property. Because a large number of land disputes had been ending up in court, setting up the new commission took about 30 percent of all cases out of the district courts. As a result, the total time required to enforce a contract through the courts fell from 275 days to 225,” the report said. Bhutan News Service