Bangladesh Lags Behind in Global Business Environment Rankings

Bangladesh continues to struggle in creating a favorable business environment, as highlighted by the latest World Bank B-Ready report. Despite efforts to improve, the nation remains near the bottom among 50 countries, even trailing its neighbors Nepal and Pakistan.

Struggling in Regulatory Framework

Bangladesh scored 56.99 out of 100 in the regulatory framework pillar, placing it in the lowest quintile among 50 economies. This score reflects significant challenges in the effectiveness of laws and regulations that promote good business practices.

• Comparison with Neighbors:
  • Nepal: 59.34
  • Pakistan: 59.10
  • Hungary: 78.23 (Top performer)

The low ranking indicates that businesses face hurdles in compliance and regulatory processes, hindering their ability to operate efficiently.

Public Service Delivery: A Major Weakness

In the public service delivery pillar, Bangladesh received a score of 41.64, placing it in the fourth tier of five stages. This score underscores the country’s weak performance in institutional provisions and government facilities essential for business operations.

Estonia leads this pillar with a score of 73.31, while Nepal and Pakistan scored 49.29 and 44.97, respectively. The disparity highlights the need for Bangladesh to enhance its infrastructure and support systems to better serve the business community.

Operational Efficiency Shows Slight Improvement

Bangladesh’s operational efficiency score stands at 70.49, placing it in the second stage out of five tiers. While this is an improvement over other pillars, it still falls short of leading countries like Singapore, which scored 87.33.

• Neighboring Countries’ Scores:
  • Nepal: 72.21
  • Pakistan: 65.90

The operational efficiency score assesses how easily businesses can comply with regulations and utilize public services effectively. Although Bangladesh shows some progress, there is still room for enhancement to meet regional standards.

Economic Performance Across Topics

The B-Ready report evaluates ten topics to gauge economic performance. Bangladesh’s scores in these areas are as follows:

These scores reveal that while Bangladesh performs relatively better in business entry, it faces significant challenges in areas like market competition and business insolvency, which are critical for sustainable economic growth.