[4 Nov. 2013] - A new World Bank Group report finds that Vietnam strengthened investor protection and improved access to credit to make doing business easier for local firms between July 2012 and June 2013. Across the globe, Singapore continues to provide the world’s most business-friendly regulatory environment for local entrepreneurs, followed by Hong Kong SAR, China. In the past year, 15 of 25 economies in the region implemented at least one regulatory reform making it easier to do business.

Doing Business 2014: Understanding Regulations for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises finds that since 2005, 24 of 25 economies in East Asia and the Pacific have made their regulatory environment more business-friendly. Among the region’s economies, China made the greatest progress during that time in improving business regulation for local entrepreneurs.

Although the report finds that Vietnam has implemented 21 reforms – the highest number in East Asia Pacific – since 2005, the country’s ranking has not improved much over the years. This year, Vietnam is ranked 99 out of 189 economies, signaling that the country needs to do even more in order to improve its position on the list.

“Vietnam has undertaken important reforms during the past nine years to strengthen its business environment, but much work still needs to be done to sustain its competitiveness, especially in adopting international best practices in regulating businesses,” said Wendy Werner, investment climate advisory services manager for East Asia and the Pacific at IFC, a member of the World Bank Group.