Colombia is the second best economy to do business in Latin America

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism (MinCIT), aspects such as the elimination of barriers to business creation, access to credit and the consolidation of Foreign Trade Windows within the framework of the Pacific Alliance, were fundamental aspects for Colombia to rank second among the Latin American economies with the best conditions for doing business, according to the World Bank's Doing Business indicator.

"Colombia continues to get closer to the best general practices in terms of improving the business climate," clarified the MinCIT.

However, for the 2017 measurement, worldwide the country ranks 53rd among 190 economies that were measured.

Of the 23 Colombian cities analyzed in Doing Business, Manizales, Pereira, Ibagué and Bogotá were the best ranked cities for doing business.

"We have advanced specific actions such as improving access to credit, facilitating the opening of companies and foreign trade as tools to consolidate a modern Colombia," said the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Claudia Lacouture.

Aspects to highlight

The Doing Business 2017 report highlights that Colombia made it easier to start a business by reducing registration procedures. The number of procedures for starting a company was reduced from 8 to 6 and from 11 to 9 days.

The foregoing prompted the opening of 138,786 companies between May and September 2016, 14.7% more than in the same period of 2015.

Another aspect to highlight was that for the third consecutive year (2015, 2016 and 2017), Colombia is consolidated as the second economy out of 190 in the world, with greater ease of access to credit for the business fabric, surpassed by New Zealand.

Aspects to improve

Despite the aforementioned results, Colombia obtained the last positions in two factors specifically. On the one hand, the country ranked 139th in terms of tax payment, down six places compared to the 2016 measurement.

On the other hand, it ranked 174th with respect to contract compliance, climbing just three positions in relation to the previous measurement.

Global results

Within the general ranking, economies of New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Korea and the United States, were some of those that were found within the first ten places of the classification.

SOURCE: http://www.dinero.com/economia/articulo/colombia-en-el-doing-business-2017/236267