Overview

Doing Business in Small Island Developing States 2008 draws on data from the global Doing Business project and database, as well as the findings of Doing Business 2008. In 2008, the annual series analyzed government regulations that enhanced business activity and those that constrained it in 178 countries, including 32 Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Main Findings

The report found SIDS that performed particularly well in 3 Doing Business areas: dealing with licenses, employing workers, and paying taxes.

• SIDS, on average, did not perform very well in 4 regulatory areas: closing a business, getting credit, registering property, and enforcing contracts.
• If SIDS were to adopt the practices of each top performer in the group on the 10 areas measured by Doing Business, they would rank 2nd globally on the overall ease of doing business. This would mean adopting Mauritius's company start-up regulations and investor protections, St. Vincent and the Grenadines' licensing requirements, Marshall Islands’ flexible labor regulations, Palau’s efficient property transfer, Singapore’s credit trade practices and court procedures, Maldives’ tax regulations, Jamaica’s bankruptcy practices, and Mauritius's company start-up regulations and investor protections.