Saudi Arabia ranked as the 12th most business-friendly country out of 183 economies worldwide and led the Middle East region on the list, the World Bank's “Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World” report released in October said. For the seventh consecutive year, Saudi Arabia ranks as the best country to do business in the entire Middle East and Arab World, ahead of regional competitors such as Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE. Significantly, the report ranks the Kingdom ahead of major advanced economies, such as Canada, Japan, Germany, and France, and emerging economies, such as Brazil, China, and India. Although down from the 10th position reached in 2010, Saudi Arabia continued to improve in a number of categories. By comparison, the United Arab Emirates ranked 33rd, Qatar 36th, Bahrain 38th, and Oman 49th. Further, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has a regional average ranking of 93. The annual Doing Business report aims to highlight the level of ease or difficulty for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size enterprise (SME) when complying with relevant regulations. Saudi Arabia advanced its ranking in two important categories identified by the report: starting a business and dealing with construction permits. The report commended Saudi Arabia for taking great strides in adjusting its regulatory environment to be more favorable for business, having enacted over a dozen relevant reforms during the past five years. Saudi Arabia is the 10th easiest country in the world to start a business, up from 14th in 2010. The rankings for regional economies such as UAE (42), Oman (68), Bahrain (82), and Qatar (116), as well as the MENA's average ranking of 62 provide useful information for assessing the ease for a Saudi entrepreneur to start a business. Overall, it takes 3 procedures and 5 days to compete this process. Saudi Arabia is one of only a few countries that requires no fee (as a percentage of paid-in minimum capital) to start a business. The process costs 5.9 percent of income per capita, down from 7 percent last year, the report said. Moreover, Saudi Arabia remains the top economy worldwide for registering property for the fourth year in a row. The UAE ranks 6th, Oman 21st, Bahrain 30th, and Qatar 37th. Overall, the MENA region has a regional average ranking of 52. The Kingdom requires only two procedures and is one of the fastest countries, averaging two days. Further, Saudi Arabia is one of few countries that has no fee (as a percentage of property value) to register a property. Globally, Saudi Arabia stands at 48 on the ease of getting credit, down from 45 in 2010 but ahead of the UAE. (78), Oman (98), Qatar (98), and Bahrain (128). The MENA region has a regional average ranking of 119. The data collected by the World Bank reflects how well the credit information system and collateral and bankruptcy laws in the Kingdom support lending and borrowing today. The economy has a score of 6 on the depth of credit information index (0-6) and a score of 5 on the strength of legal rights index (0-10). A higher score is indicative of more credit information and stronger legal rights for borrowers and lenders. The private credit bureau covers 16 percent of adults, down from 18 in 2010. Saudi Arabia ranks 17th in 183 economies on the strength of investor protection index, down from 16th in 2010 but ahead of Oman (97), Qatar (97), U.A.E. (122), and Bahrain (126). The MENA region has an average ranking of 95.
