By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
South Korea ranked 23rd out of 181 countries for its business-friendly environment, up seven notches from 30th last year, the World Bank said Wednesday. The nation saw an improvement in the areas of the tax and social security-related payment systems, and credit information collection, while its ranking in employment flexibility and the easiness of business foundation dropped.
In a report titled ``Doing Business 2009,'' which looked into how friendly the environment for business was in its 181 World Bank member economies by assessing taxation, labor market flexibility and eight other business-related variables, Korea's ranking rose mainly on its improved taxation system.
Among subcategories, the country ranked 43rd in the ease of tax and social welfare-related payments this year, up sharply from 106th in 2007. Also, its standing in individual credit information gathering increased to 12th from last year's 36th.
However, the easiness of business startup worsened to 126th from 110th, with the employment flexibility ranking at 152nd, down from 131st. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the introduction of the Non-regular Workers' Protection Law in July last year, which requires businesses to hire temporary workers as regular ones after two years of employment, made the country's labor market more inflexible.
It also said Korea's business environment for startups remained relatively the same over the past year, but many economies took steps to promote venture companies, pushing down the nation's rank.
Singapore topped the list of the most business favorable nation, followed by New Zealand and the United States. Japan ranked 12th and Thailand 13th.
A ministry official said, despite the seven-notch climb, this year's ranking did not properly reflect the government's ongoing efforts to create a business friendly environment, adding the nation's ranking will go up further next year.
``The government will also continue to make every effort to have pending bills, aimed at improving the corporate environment, passed at the National Assembly. We will also take more measures to upgrade the labor market,'' he said.
leehs@koreatimes.co.kr
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