World Bank: Azerbaijan is one of ten most reformist countries in world

The World Bank has announced the results of an independent investigation by the World Bank's Internal Audit into discrepancies in the Doing Business publication, Report says, citing Center for Economic Reform Analysis and Communication.

As a result of an independent study, Azerbaijan's position in the "Doing Business 2020 report" has improved by 6 points, so our country has once again entered the top ten most reformist countries in the world.

A press release issued by the World Bank on August 27, 2020, stated that discrepancies were identified in the processing of the data in the Doing Business of several member countries within the Bank and that an independent investigation would be conducted to determine the nature of these differences.

The World Bank's press release dated December 16, 2020, declares that the World Bank's Internal Audit Structures conducted a detailed diagnosis of the data for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, and reconciled the ratings of the countries with the methodologies of the report. As a result, information on countries' performance has been updated.

According to the relevant research, the reforms carried out in Azerbaijan in 3 areas (on the indicators of "connection to electricity supply networks," implementation of contracts", "cross-border trade") were underestimated and rated lower in the Doing Business 2020. The relevant diagnostic assessment covered four countries - Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and China.

The relevant amendments increased Azerbaijan's score from 76.7 to 78.5 points. Thus, the country's position in the global rankings rose from 34 to 28 out of 191 countries. Therefore, the World Bank has again evaluated Azerbaijan as "one of the world's ten most reformist countries."

The Doing Business 2019 also rated Azerbaijan as "one of the world's ten most reformist countries." As a result of the independent audits, detailed information on the update of Azerbaijan's rating on three indicators was provided in the press release attachment.

Azerbaijan has a 28-year history of close cooperation with the World Bank. The World Bank, a vital development institution globally, has always supported the large-scale reforms implemented in our country.

An independent study of the Doing Business Report demonstrates the World Bank's high level of professionalism while proving once again that honesty is paramount in Azerbaijan's relations with the World Bank and its other partners.

Detailed information on the update of Azerbaijan's rating in the Doing Business report on three indicators:

1. On the indicator "Connection to power supply networks"

Through this index, applications for connection to electricity supply networks, contracts with electricity companies, all necessary inspections and permits by electricity distribution companies and other agencies, as well as external and final connection work, and other reforms are measured. Relevant application of the geographic information system in the utility system has eliminated the need for field inspections and reduced the time required for appropriate documentation. In particular, the conducting field inspections procedure for specifications has been abolished, and the time for acceptance of specifications has been lessened. Thus, thanks to the consolidation of technical conditions and connection to electrical systems in one package, the number of procedures for electricity connection reduced to 5, and the duration to 32 days. The relevant figures were previously reflected in the report as 7 and 41 days, respectively.

2. On the indicator of "implementation of contracts"

The Doing Business report uses the Legal Process Quality Index to determine whether each country has acceptable practices in its judicial system in four areas: court structure and processes, case management, the automated court system, and alternative dispute resolution. The diagnostic tests on the relevant sub-indicator increased Azerbaijan's score from 6.5 to 10.5 points. At the same time, the World Bank has approved many important reforms in the country, such as determining court proceedings and introducing e-management systems for judges and lawyers.

3. On the indicator of "cross-border trade"

The Doing Business records time and costs associated with the process of exporting and transporting imported goods and estimates the time and costs associated with three procedural groups (compliance with document requirements, compliance with border requirements, and domestic transportation of goods) in the general import and export process. In terms of ease of cross-border trade, countries are classified based on their ranking of cross-border trade pointers. As a result of the research conducted by the audit team on the relevant indicator, according to the sub-indicator time spent on export: border procedures (hours), the period was set at 12, time spent on import: border procedures (hours)-4, time spent on export: documentation procedures (hours)-28.5, time spent on import: documentation procedures (hours)-26, the amount spent on export: documentation procedures (US dollars)-$ 150. the indicators for the relevant sub-indicators were previously estimated at 17, 14, 33, 33 hours, and $ 250 in the report.

Thus, the new assessment conducted by the World Bank once again confirmed the implementation of essential reforms in the country on "cross-border trade" procedures to declare imports and simplify export customs documentation.

Relevant internal audit bodies of the World Bank will take administrative measures under the Bank's Code of Business Ethics against the responsible persons of the Bank who have committed these discrepancies, which have damaged the position of the countries in the report and their business image.