OREANDA-NEWS. November 24, 2010. Among the world's economies, Kazakhstan improved business regulation the most in the past year, according to Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs, the eighth in a series of annual reports published by IFC and the World Bank.

Kazakhstan improved conditions for starting a business, obtaining construction permits, protecting investors, and trading across borders. As a result, it moved up 15 places in the rankings on the ease of doing business to 59 among 183 economies.

Kazakhstan amended its company law and introduced regulations to streamline business start-up and reduce the minimum capital requirement to 100 tenge (USD 0.70). It made dealing with construction permits less cumbersome by introducing several new building regulations in 2009, a new one-stop shop for construction-related formalities and a risk-based approach for permit approvals. Traders benefit from improvements to the automated customs information system and risk-based systems.

Several trade-related documents, such as the bill of lading, can now be submitted online, and customs declarations can be sent in before the cargo arrives.

Modernization efforts, already under way for several years, also include a risk management system to control. Goods crossing the national border and a modern inspection system (TC-SCAN) at the border crossing point shared with China.

Kazakhstan also increased the legal requirements for disclosure in related-party transactions. Thanks to the amendments to its company law, companies must describe transactions involving conflicts of interest in their annual report.

Doing Business 2011 is the eighth 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 regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time.

Regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of a business are covered: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, closing a business, getting electricity and employing workers. The getting electricity and employing workers data are not included in the ranking on the ease of doing business in Doing Business 2011.