Kyrgyzstan improves its rankings in WB-IFC Doing Business series.

Kyrgyzstan improved its rank in World Bank-International Finance Corporation Doing Business-2009 rankings having risen from 99th to 68th ranking and this way outstripping other Central Asian countries.Since 2004 WB-IFC Doing Business has been tracking regulatory reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business by measuring their impact on 10 indicator sets. Nearly 1,000 reforms have been captured since that time. For the fifth year in a row, Eastern Europe and Central Asia has led the world in Doing Business reforms a" the region accounts for a third of all reforms observed since Doing Business 2004. In 2007 Eastern Europe and Central Asia surpassed East Asia and Pacific in the average ease of doing business and has maintained its place this year. Around the world, more regulatory reforms were recorded between June 2007 and June 2008 than in any previous yeara"113 economies implemented 239 reforms.The Kyrgyz Republic, a top reformer globally and regionally, strengthened investor protections through legal amendments allowing minority investors to take legal actions as shareholders. The amendments also require an independent assessment of a related-party transaction before it is approved, said in the report. Directors can be held liable for negligence if they harm minority shareholders and will be forced to pay damages and disgorge profits. A new one-stop shop made it easier to start a business by streamlining and simplifying business registration processes and eliminating certain requirements such as proof of residence. Obtaining a company seal became optional. Dealing with construction permits also became easier, thanks to a one-stop shop making it possible to obtain a designing permit, construction license, and occupancy permit at a single place. This reform eliminated nine steps, reduced the time required by almost 6 months, and lowered the cost from 759 percent of income per capita to 406 percent, said in the Doing Business rank. Kazakhstan was ranked 70th. The country's private credit bureau is adding two new suppliers of information a month, including retailers (such as furniture companies) and utilities (such as the gas company). Borrower coverage increased by 80 percent in the past year. A new law introduced substantial changes to the property registration system, creating a unified registry for all land and buildings and establishing public service centers to handle property transactions in major cities. The law also eliminated requirements, cutting the number of procedures from eight to five and the time from 52 days to 40. A new labor law, adopted in May 2007, now obligates employers to reassign a worker before making the worker redundant, said in the Doing Business rankings.Uzbekistan was ranked 138th. The country established a private credit bureau and a public credit registry to share credit information among financial institutions. The credit registries will enable banks to better assess the creditworthiness of potential borrowers.Tajikistan was ranked 159th. The country enhanced investor protections through a new law requiring that transactions between interested parties be approved by a shareholders meeting at which interested directors cannot vote. In addition, the transaction must be disclosed to the board of directors. The new law allows minority shareholders to sue directors on behalf of the company. Administrative backlogs in obtaining location permits added 160 days to the overall time for dealing with construction permits.

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