[THE INVESTOR] South Korea came in fifth in terms of business environment among 190 countries, according to a report by the World Bank on Oct. 26.

According to the organization’s annual “Doing Business 2017” ranking report, the country received 84.07 points in total, slightly up from the previous year’s 83.88, but fell one notch from a year earlier.

Every year, the World Bank analyzes 189 countries’ business environments by breaking them down into 10 broad categories in accordance with the business life cycle from start to closure.

The report checks legal and administrative rules and practices, as well as feedback from experts and businessmen from related fields, and is designed to provide the best practice benchmarks that can be followed by developing countries.

Broken down by sector, South Korea moved up the rating ladder in four sectors and lost ground in four areas.

In terms of legal settlement, the country rose one step to finish first, outperforming other 189 countries in the world, while its ranking for the environment for starting a business jumped to 11th place from 23rd.

The country also saw its standings rise to 23rd and 39th in tax payment and property registering, respectively.

Seoul’s ranking in regards to providing electricity to companies stood at the top of all countries surveyed, retaining the highest position for three years in a row. In the field of solving insolvency, it stayed at fourth place.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)