Sweet 18th in the world today, Ease of Doing Business

Would the long processes of approval for new developments be a thing of the past? It may be, if Malaysia is to continue improving on its current ranking in the world for ‘Ease of Doing Business’. In the latest result, Malaysia has improved its ranking. It’s now 18th instead of last year’s 20th. The report is compiled by World Bank. In Asia, Malaysia is 4th, after Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. For 2016, World Bank’s focus will be on registering property, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, paying taxes and enforcing contracts. The first one is very important. Remember my article about it taking forever when it comes to leasehold properties? Here: Buying a property. Why the long…………… wait for the whole process?
In the report, it said that Malaysia improved in the following five indicators. Dealing with construction permits, starting a business, registering property, resolving insolvency and getting electricity. The report said that this improvement mirrors the government’s transformation and economic transformation programmes. In a recent property talk by a prominent property guru, organised by a top developer in Malaysia, the government economic transformation plans were stated as a key reason why property investment is a must. When the whole economy moves, the prices tend to go up in tandem and those without a property would suddenly find it hard to catch up.
These rankings are important because majority of all the decisions on which country to invest in would have to depend on these reports. After all, it is impossible and very costly for every company intending to invest overseas to do its own research and information gathering. As an example, if the decision is where in Asia should they be investing in, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea would be first three considerations. If Malaysia can show that it is nearly on par with these countries and yet provides cost advantages, where do you think these businesses would choose to invest? With more investment, there would be more jobs, thus higher economic activities. This meant demand for properties can continue to be supported by the working population in cities.
Sweet 18 is great but I think a Top 16 may be possible if the five areas stated is really improved tremendously. As for majority of us who are just property investors, ‘registering property’ may be something to look forward to. After all, no one wants to move in only after 9 months of buying a property, right?
written on 31 Oct 2014
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