Myanmar no longer the world’s worst country to start a business, says World Bank

Is that the sound of popping bottles we hear?

Last year, the World Bank placed Myanmar at the very bottom of a ranking of countries based on the ease of starting a business.

But this year’s updated version of the  Doing Business 2016: Measuring Quality and Efficiency survey, unveiled yesterday, revealed the country has jumped 189^th (out of 189) to 167^th.

The leap makes Myanmar the world’s most improved nation. It’s still pretty woeful compared to regional neighbors – Singapore is in first place.

While corruption, infrastructure woes and bureaucratic headaches still plague would-be investors, reforms introduced since the transition to semi-civilian government in 2012 seem to have have made a difference.

Examples cited include the reduction in time need to install electricity in Yangon and the removal of capital requirements needed to start a local company.

It’s probably a little early to celebrate, though. The report cited some of the massive problems that remain, including the courts for their “slow and costly dispute resolution paired with low-quality judicial processes.”

In Myanmar, a local company usually struggles to enforce a contact through the courts for about three years. In Singapore, the average time is 150 days.

Photo / Flickr /  Michael Verhoef