Besides risk and pay-off perspectives, investment climate remains the most primordial aspect for entrepreneurs during their hunt for compelling new opportunities. As a matter of fact, investors’ main concern continue to be largely dependent on the current and expected economic condition of the country as well as the political, social and security factors. In this context, the World Bank periodically issue its annual “Doing Business Report” for all countries that are members of the institution and among them Lebanon. The report “sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations”. The index of doing business comprises eleven sub-indices representing eleven areas in the life cycle of a business namely, starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency and labor market regulation.
Lebanon’s ranking on the ease of doing business in 2015 declined by 2 notches compared to the previous year. The country ranked 104 over 189 countries for which the index is computed against 102 in the doing business of 2014. Lebanon’s ranking fared better than the regional average of the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) of 106. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) stood as the best performer in the region with a ranking of 22, while Saudi Arabia recorded 44 and Turkey 55. In contrast, Jordan and Syria respectively scored 117 and 175, which is worse than the average….
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