Pakistan has been named one of the top 10 countries that has done the most in the past year to improve the ease of doing business, an annual World Bank report says.
It improved in five of 10 areas that the World Bank monitors. It was credited for making starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, paying taxes, trading across borders easer, said the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 report, published on October 23.
Thus, Pakistan climbed 28 notches from last year to the 108th spot among 190 economies in 10 areas of business activities.
The other nine countries where economies improved the most were Tajikistan, China, India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Nigeria.
Tajikistan, in the 106th spot, improved in three areas: starting a business, getting credit, and trading across borders.
Russia climbed three steps from last year to the 28th spot.
Over the past year, Russia "made getting electricity faster by setting new deadlines and establishing specialized departments for connection works within the utilities of Moscow and St. Petersburg," the report stated.
Ukraine jumped seven spots to rank 64th.
Kyiv was credited for streamlining the process of obtaining construction permits, making it easier to get electricity, register property, accessing credit, and improving access to credit information, protecting minority investors, and easing trading across borders.
New Zealand tops the global ranking, with Singapore and Hong Kong right behind, with South Korea in fifth place, and the United States sixth.