A new report ranking worldwide jurisdictions by how simple or complicated they are to do business says Thailand has Asia's most business-friendly regulatory landscape.

Thailand has Asia's least complex business environment and is behind only Jersey, Curacao, and the Cayman Islands in the global rankings, according to the «Global Business Complexity Index 2019», published by international administrative services firm TMF Group.

The report compares key administrative and compliance demands across 76 jurisdictions worldwide, focusing on rules, regulations and penalties, accounting and tax, and hiring, firing and paying employees.

Despite a complex tax and accounting system, Thailand scored highly for simplicity because its regulatory landscape and employment rules are business-friendly, with hiring and maintaining a local workforce a relatively straightforward process, the report noted.

Singapore Lags

Singapore ranked higher than other commercially attractive countries like India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Mainland China and Indonesia, but is only the continent's sixth-easiest place to do business. Apart from regional leader Thailand, it lags South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.  

The city-state's pro-business policies, its connectivity within Southeast Asia and across the globe, and its highly skilled workforce give it a strong competitive advantage. Additionally, the cost of starting a business in Singapore is low, and KYC due diligence requirements are clear and transparent.

However, the increased responsibilities of directors and officers of companies, regulatory changes such as the requirement to maintain registers of beneficial owners and registers of nominee directors, due diligence requirements when incorporating companies and opening bank accounts, compulsory use of CorpPass for online corporate transactions with government authorities, and changes to Singapore Employment Act in April 2019 were cited as factors that increased business complexity for Singapore.

Greece, Indonesia, Brazil and the UAE had the most complex business environments globally according to the report.

Download a full copy of the report here.