The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report plays an important role in influencing an investor’s decision to invest in any country around the globe.

It summarises for key rankings that underpin what setting up shop in a foreign country will be like for any interested investor.

Vanuatu’s Ease of Doing Business rankings have continued on a steady decline since 2017 however the country has also not been able to improve the overall business rankings to what it was approximately 10 years ago which stood at 76 in 2010.

2021 ranking places Vanuatu a further down at 107. The higher your rank against other countries, the poorer your performance in doing business.
The Agency has engaged Mr Peter Judge who is attached with the Governance for Growth program to analyse the business ranking performance for Vanuatu over the years and provide recommendations on key actions that can be undertaken to improve rankings.

These will primarily be administrative procedures that are involved in business startup in Vanuatu, specifically the length of processes versus the costs that tie into these processes.

Mr Judge stated in a presentation to the Agency that the Pacific region on the whole had dropped in its performance in doing business rankings and this may because other countries around the globe have improved their standing in key performer indicators therefore improving their overall ranking.

He continued to state that this however may cast a shadow over investor confidence to invest in the region for doubts over business viability.
The Agency will be teaming up with other key departments in the front line for business processes in Vanuatu to address administrative red tapes that slow business start up and hope to see an improved ranking in the years that will follow.