TEHRAN – Iran has advanced 12 places in the ease of Doing Business ranking, forecasted to reach 118th place in 2016 from 130th in 2015, according to the World Bank's Doing Business 2016 report.

Head of Iran's Presidential Office Mohammad Nahavandian made the remarks in the second conference on business environment improvement which was held in Tehran on Monday, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) reported.

The ease of Doing Business report of the World Bank is based on 10 factors, such as conditions for starting a business, protecting investors, paying taxes, and trading across borders. 

The Doing Business report provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 economies. 

Iran ranked 130th in the World Bank’s ranking of 189 countries in 2015, an improvement over its rank of 132nd in 2014 and 152nd in 2013.

According to the World Bank’s report, starting a business in Iran has been made easier with simplified preregistration and registration formalities (publication, notarization, inspection, other requirements).

Getting construction permits in Iran has improved by 103 places, reaching the 69th rank in 2016 from 172nd in 2015. 

Protecting Investors factor in 2015 has advanced from 154th place to 150th.

The Enforcing Contracts factor places Iran in the 62nd spot, compared to the 66th in 2009. 

Regarding the Starting a Business factor, Iran has dropped 25 places in the ranking, reaching 87th place in 2016 from 62nd in 2009. 

The challenges of launching a business are the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita. 

Speaking at the conference, Iran’s Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia said he expects Iran’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of Doing Business index to improve to a double-digit in the near future.

The industrial strategic document published by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade last week seeks a rank of 100 in 2018 and improving it eventually to 80 in 2021 and 60 in 2025.

SJ/