Myanmar's business environment improves: World Bank

Myanmar rose by one place to the 170th among 190 economies on the ease of doing business, said the World Bank Group's annual Doing Business Report 2017 released on Wednesday.

The report said the country has improved its business regulatory environment over the past year through reforms on business registration and enactment of a law that allows the establishment of a new credit bureau which is an important one for country's small and medium enterprises to get loans without collateral.

The country has narrowed the gap to start a business by reducing the cost to register a company and simplifying the process to incorporate a company as compared with leading countries in economy.

Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Manager for Myanmar, said pursuing business reforms will help the country create a vibrant private sector and eventually, more jobs and better income for the people.

The report also noted difficulties for foreign traders as congestion at the port of Yangon leads to higher costs and delays.

Meanwhile, the country has the potential to achieve inclusive growth as other high performing countries in the region, the report added.

Myanmar's economy is projected to rise 7.8 percent in the 2016-2017 fiscal year as activities of the real sector economy remained strong in the first quarter, according to the East Asia and Pacific Economic Update of World Bank. Endit