Publication: Doing Business in the Arab World 2012 : Doing Business in a More Transparent World
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2012
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2012
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Doing Business in the Arab world 2012 is a regional report drawing on the global Doing Business project and its database as well as the findings of Doing Business 2012, the ninth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulation and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, and over time. A clear message emerging from the political transformation of the Arab world is the demand for more inclusive, broad-based growth that creates opportunity for many who have not shared in the benefits of private sector development in the past. In most Arab economies the unemployment rate remains in double digits, and the majority of the unemployed are under the age of 30. Policies focused on promoting inclusive growth, creating incentives for the private sector to create more good jobs and improving governance can increase employment opportunities for young people in the region.
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“International Finance Corporation; World Bank. 2012. Doing Business in the Arab World 2012 : Doing Business in a More Transparent World. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16303 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”
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But where regulation is efficient, transparent and implemented in a simple way, it becomes easier for aspiring entrepreneurs to compete on an equal footing and to innovate and expand. In this sense Doing Business values good rules as a key to social inclusion. Enabling growth, and ensuring that all people, regardless of income level, can participate in its benefits, requires an environment where new entrants with drive and good ideas can get started in business and where good firms can invest and grow, thereby creating more jobs. Doing Business was designed with 2 main types of users in mind: policy makers and researchers. Doing Business is a tool that governments can use to design sound policies for the creation of firms and jobs. But this tool should not be used in isolation. Doing Business provides a rich opportunity for benchmarking by capturing key dimensions of regulatory regimes. 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