/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

Improvement of Azerbaijan’s positions in the annual ranking from the Doing Business-2016 report prepared by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation is the result of systematic reforms carried out in the country.

This was stated by Azerbaijan's Deputy Economy and Industry Minister Sahil Babayev on October 29.

“The fact that Azerbaijan has advanced in the rating by as much as 17 positions and entered the top 26 countries with the largest number of reforms carried out is a clear indicator of the success of reforms undertaken in the country, liberalization of the economy and improvement of the business environment,” he told journalists.

Azerbaijan, an energy-rich South Caucasus country with favorable conditions for doing business, entered the list of top 10 countries for starting a business.

According to the Doing Business-2016 report released on October 28, Azerbaijan took the 7th place among the 189 world countries.

"Azerbaijan made starting a business easier by abolishing the requirement to use a corporate seal," the report said.

Compared with last year's results, Azerbaijan achieved the greatest success in categories like dealing with construction permits (114th against 150th), getting electricity (110th against 159th), protecting minority investors (36th against 51st), trading across borders (94th against 166th) and resolving insolvency (84th against 94th).

"Azerbaijan is one economy that has taken serious steps to make its legislation more comprehensible—by adopting a new construction code that consolidates its previous building regulations into a single framework," the report said.

The authors of the report believe that the country made dealing with construction permits easier by establishing a one-stop shop for issuing pre-approvals for project documentation.

"Azerbaijan strengthened minority investor protections by introducing requirements that related-party transactions undergo external review and be voted on by disinterested shareholders," the report noted.

In general, Azerbaijan improved its position and was ranked 63rd in the Doing Business-2016 report titled “Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency,” published on October 28.

Last year Azerbaijan was ranked 80th in the Doing Business-2015 report.

Singapore is at the top of world ranking in creating the most favorable conditions for business. The top ten countries include New Zealand, Denmark, Korea, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United States, Sweden, Norway and Finland.