The business environment registered significant improvement in Cyprus last year, according to the World Bank’s annual “Doing Business Report 2016” presented by the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA), in the presence of Undersecretary to the President Constantinos Petrides.

The World Bank evaluated a total of 189 economies on the basis of ten different indicators covering the entire life cycle of a company. This is the seventh consecutive year that Cyprus has been included in the report.

According to this year’s survey, Cyprus climbed 13 places in the world rankings as regards the ease of doing business compared to last year (from 60th to 47th) and was ranked among the ten economies with the most notable improvement in upgrading the business environment. A significant change from the previous year was the breadth of participation in the survey, since there were more participants from the Public Service.

CIPA Chairman Christodoulos Angastiniotis said that the increased participation of the Public Service in the survey made it possible for the government machine to identify possible weaknesses and give a clearer direction to the more general reform effort underway, based also on the recommendations and conclusions of the World Bank.

Angastiniotis noted that these positive results should not lead to complacency.

Referring to the importance of attracting investments, Angastiniotis stressed: “We have no other choice but to press ahead with strategic reforms and improvements.” We need simplification of procedures, transparency and speed, he said.

Addressing the event, Constantinos Petrides said the conclusions of this year’s survey testify to the encouraging improvements in the investment environment in Cyprus. The government’s priority, he noted, is to continue concerted efforts to upgrade the investment environment through the close cooperation of the public and private sector, under the coordination of CIPA.