DUSHANBE, September 8, Asia-Plus - On September 6, the World Bank released its annual survey on ease of doing business.  The report evaluates 175 countries in 10 specific areas of business regulation, including the ease of registering a business, paying taxes, and trading across borders.

According to the World Bank and IFC fourth yearly “Doing Business 2007” report, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have ranked 133 ^rd and 147 ^th , respectively.  

According to "Doing Business 2007," Even Kazakhstan, has the highest overall ranking -- 63 -- of any of the Central Asia countries.  Kyrgyzstan jumps 14 places in the survey and ranked 90 ^th , scoring better than Turkey, China and to Russia.  

Georgia was the top reformer in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and led the global top 10 reformer rankings on the ease of doing business in 2005–2006, according to the report.   

Russia was rated ranked 96 ^th , and Ukraine and Belarus ranked 128 ^th and 129 ^th , respectively.   

Central Asian countries score poorly in terms of ease of trading across borders.  Ukraine and Belarus also score poorly in terms of retaining considerable barriers to trade.   No reforms have been carried out in Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan has even complicated  conditions for running business.   

Experts note that in many of Central Asia’s states customs is one of the most corrupt areas of business regulation, and one of the reasons for this is the fact that there are a number of different documents and a number of different procedures behind trading.  Even Kazakhstan, which has the highest overall ranking of any of the Central Asia countries retains considerable barriers to trade.  For example, it takes 93 days on average to export a product and 87 days on average to import one.