UPDATE - Turkey’s Ease of Doing Business rank jumps to 33

UPDATES WITH DETAILS FROM REPORT, ADDS COMMENTS

By Mumin Aktas and Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey has jumped up 10 places to be 33rd among 190 nations in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index released on Thursday, the country’s vice president said.

In a statement, Fuat Oktay said that Turkey has gained an important achievement in the economic field as well, along with the achievements gained both on the ground and at the table, referring to the country’s counter-terrorism operation in northern Syria and recent agreements with the U.S. and Russia.

“There is an improvement of 27 places compared to the index of two years ago, when Turkey ranked 60th on the index,” Oktay said.

He said the achievement was gained despite “manipulation attempts and attacks on the Turkish economy.”

Stating that the recent gain is “never enough” for Turkey, he added: “Our primary goal is to be ranked 20th on the index.”

Under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey will continue its works to encourage both domestic and foreign investors to do direct investment furthermore in Turkey, the vice president added.

- Easing property registration, taxes

Turkey's doing business score was 76.8 in the report, while New Zealand ranked first with 86.8 and Somalia scored the worst, 20, to come last.

New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong took the first three places in the report's 2020 edition.

Turkey was 69th in 2017, 60th in 2018, and 43rd in the 2019 editions of the report.

The report said: "Turkey made property registration less expensive by temporarily reducing mortar charges to transfer property, and faster by reducing the time to obtain a tax assessment."

It added that the country eased taxes by granting a value-added tax exemption for some capital investments.

- Turkey continues to make reforms

Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry said in a press release that Turkey jumped in the list thanks to reform studies under the leadership of the ministry.

"Reforms increased efficiency and activity in the Turkish business life by reducing costs and processing times," it said.

Berat Albayrak, the treasury and finance minister, also tweeted that Turkey will continue to make reforms.

"We will move up Turkey's investment climate to the top level by providing productivity in business life and reducing costs more," he said.

Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the head of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, said the report will be a reference point for foreign investors.

"This breakthrough, in our economic conditions, is an indicator for showing that Turkey continues to make needed reforms to boost investments and employment," he added.

*Nilay Kar Onum in Istanbul contributed to this report