MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines continued its slide in the annual World Bank study on the "ease of doing business", lagging far behind business-friendly hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong.
But the big surprise was the Philippines, which ranked 136 out of 183 countries, was even lower than other developing countries such as Bangladesh (122), West Bank and Gaza (131), Nigeria (133) and Sudan (135).
The new Doing Business 2012 study released Thursday assesses regulations affecting domestic firms in 183 economies. The report showed the Philippines continues to have one of the most difficult regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs. The Philippines' 136 ranking in the latest survey was even lower than its 134 ranking in 2011.
Singapore was ranked the "easiest" place to do business in the world for the 6th straight year, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, US and Denmark.
Other Asian countries that had easier business regulations for entrepreneurs than the Philippines include South Korea (8), Thailand (17), Malaysia (18), Japan (20), Taiwan (25), Brunei (83), China (91), Vietnam (98), Indonesia (129) and India (132).
Among Asian countries, the Philippines was only ahead of Cambodia (138), Laos (165) and Timor Leste (168).