A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is conducive to the operation of business.
The doing business survey provides measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 183 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level.
The survey was conducted in 183 countries, however in the same survey Palau ranked 103 out of the countries surveyed when it comes to starting a business.
The indicators used by the survey in coming up with the rank on starting a business are the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome to incorporate and register a new firm. It examines the procedures, time, and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy’s per-capita gross national income (GNI).
Compared to other economies an entrepreneur must go through eight procedures to register a company and will take at least 28 days to start a business.
Palau however ranked high in the ease of employing workers to start a business.
It however ranked 171 when it comes to protecting investors , owing to the lack of mechanism in place for investor protection or transparency of transactions.
Palau also ranked the lowest among the economies surveyed when it comes to getting credit.
The rank was based on Palau lacking in measures on credit information sharing and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders.
The survey concluded that Palau’s laws are not designed to expand access to credit.
Palau also did not do well in its ranking in regards to trading across borders.
The country ranked 124 in this category.
Trading across borders are the costs and procedures involved in importing and exporting a standardized shipment of goods.
In Palau the average cost to import per container is $1, 132. Palau relies heavily on imported products due to the lack of industries.
