Transcribed
North Pacific economies : Doing Business 2013 rankings
3.36.6 Doing Business 2013 rankings Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Palau Starting a business Resolving insolvency Dealing with construction 47 permits 94 Enforcing Getting electricity contracts Trading Registering property across borders Paying taxes Getting credit Protecting investors Note: Numbers in parentheses show ranking out of 185 countries worldwide. 1= best, 185 = worst. Source: International Monetary Fund. Federated States of Micronesia, 2012 Article IV Consultation Staff Report. http://www.imf.org
North Pacific economies : Doing Business 2013 rankings
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Policy challenge—stronger linkages with Asia ----------------
The end of the compact agreements will require comprehensive fiscal
reform to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Revenue reform may...
include imposing value-added taxes. Cuts in current expenditure must
reduce large public wage bills. Parallel improvements will need to improve
tax administration. In addition, the end of payments under the compacts
will mean that subsidies to state-owned enterprises and generous social
security schemes will no longer be sustainable.
Asia’s rising importance in the global economy presents
opportunities for North Pacific economies to boost their growth
potential by tapping into the region. The North Pacific’s economic links
with Asia have been gaining importance, and in some cases are already
quite significant, as detailed by the article
Changing tides—evolving
North Pacific economic linkages?
in the December 2012 edition of ADB’s
Pacific Economic Monitor
. For instance, Palau’s merchandise trade
is almost exclusively oriented toward Asia, at 99.8% for exports and
90.5% for imports in 2011, and over 80% of its visitor arrivals are from
Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Taipei,China. The RMI’s tuna exports
reach a wide range of Asian countries such as the People’s Republic of
China (PRC) and Japan, its two biggest markets as of 2011, as well as
the Philippines and Singapore. The FSM already imports key items
from Asia, such as cars from Japan, fuel from the Republic of Korea,
and household appliances from the PRC. Trade linkages with Asia are
likely to continue expanding with cheaper transport costs to and from
Asian markets, and lower production costs in the larger economies of
developing Asia. Expanding such opportunities in a changing global
economic landscape will help balance the group’s economic ties, which
remain heavily tilted toward the US. Stronger links with Asia are
particularly relevant in the medium to long term as annual financial
assistance from the US is scheduled to decline and eventually expire.
However, to fully benefit from Asia’s rapid growth, the North Pacific
should further develop these emerging economic links, particularly
those in the areas of trade and investment. This requires substantial
improvements to the business environment. In the World Bank’s
Doing
Business 2013
survey, North Pacific economies fared poorly, with the RMI
ranked at 101 of 185, Palau at 111, and the FSM at 150—all weak in terms of
protecting investors, enforcing contracts, and registering property, among
other shortcomings (Figure 3.36.6). In particular, rigid investment and
labor policies must be relaxed. Better business environments should help
expand private sector sources of growth in these economies, particularly
in sectors that can be viable even in small island economies. For example,
a better business environment is likely to unlock the potential of
underdeveloped tourism in the RMI, which receives only 3,500 arrivals
annually, and in the FSM, with 15,000 arrivals, both dwarfed by the more
than 100,000 annual arrivals to Palau
Note: Numbers in parentheses show ranking out of 185 countries worldwide. 1 = best, 185 = worst.
Source: International Monetary Fund. Federated States of Micronesia, 2012 Article IV Consultation Staff Report.
http://www.imf.org
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