June 15, 2015 Pohnpei, FSM -Once again the World Bank has ranked FSM at 145th of 189 jurisdictions reviewed worldwide for their "ease of doing business". The ranking is just behind Gabon and before Mali. The same report ranked Palau at 113 and the Marshall Islands at 139.
Doing Business measures regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business. Ten of these areas are included in this year's ranking on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures labor market regulation, which is not included in this year's ranking.
FSM's ranking in terms of the ease of getting electricity rose remarkably from 125th worldwide in 2014 to 30th this year.
The FSM's ranking in every other category either remained unchanged or fell from 2014 levels. In the category of "Starting a Business" FSM ranked 151 this year, down from 148 last year. It ranked quite high at 37th on "Dealing With Construction Permits". That ranking is unchanged from last year. FSM ranked dead last in the category of "Registering Property" as it did last year, likely because it is extremely difficult to transfer land titles and not possible at all for foreigners in the FSM. It ranked 61st in "Getting Credit" down from 55th last year. At 186th it was third from last place in terms of "Protecting Minority Investors", down from 185th last year. It was at 114th place on "Paying Taxes", down from 111 last year. It was 106th on "Trading Across Borders", down from 105th last year. There was no change in the ranking for "Enforcing Contracts". That ranking was still a very low 162nd. It was ranked 118th on "Resolving Insolvency", down from 113th last year.