How easy is it to do business in Egypt in 2014?

With 23 reforms, Egypt is the most improved country in the MENA-region in terms of narrowing the distance to the frontier since 2005.

One of the reforms was made in the tax-paying system, as it is more costly now for companies to pay taxes with an increase in the corporate income tax rate.

The World Bank released its report "Doing Business 2014", focusing on understanding regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises, in which it compared the business environment in 189 countries.

Egypt was specifically praised for its efforts in protecting investors, as it is one of the few countries that require external review of related-party transactions.

Here is a summary of each pillar affecting the ease of doing business in Egypt:

1. It takes 7 procedures in 8 days to start a business in Egypt. It costs 9.7% of per capita income and a minimum capital of 0. Egypt ranks 128 out of 189 in starting a business.

2. It takes 21 procedures in 179 days to deal with construction permits. It costs 108% of per capita income. Egypt ranks 149 out of 189 in the dealing with construction permits.

3. It takes 7 procedures in 54 days to get electricity in Egypt. It costs 337.4% of per capita income. Egypt ranks 105 out of 189 in getting electricity.

4. It takes 42 procedures in 1,010 days to enforce contracts in Egypt. It costs 26.2% of claim. Egypt ranks 156 out of 189 in enforcing contracts.

5. It takes 8 procedures in 63 days to register property in Egypt. It costs 0.7% of property value. Egypt ranks 105 out of 189 in enforcing contracts.

6. It takes 4.2 years and costs 22% of estate to resolve insolvency in Egypt. The recovery rate lies at 16.9 cents on the dollar. Egypt ranks 146 out of 189 in resolving insolvency.

7. Companies make 29 tax payments a year in 392 hours, taxing a total amount of 42.6% of profit. Egypt ranks 148 out 189 in paying taxes.

8. A company needs 8 documents and 12 days to export and trade across borders. Cost per container is $625. It needs 10 documents and 15 days to import, with a container-cost of $790. Egypt ranks 83 out of 189 in trading across borders.

9. On a scale from 0 – 10, the strength of Egypt’s legal rights index lies at 3, and the depth of the credit information index lies at 6, on a scale from 1 – 6. The public registry covers 5.3% of adults and the private bureau covers 19.6% of adults. Egypt ranks 86 out of 189 in getting credit.

10. On a scale from 0 – 10, the extent of disclosure index scored 5, whereas the extent of director liability index scored 3. Ease of shareholder suits was ranked 3 and the strength of investor protection lay at 3.7. Egypt ranked 147 out of 189 in protecting investors.