Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, last night (Wednesday, 23 October 2019), at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, received the annual World Bank Doing Business report​ from Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Finance Ministry Accountant General Ronnie Chizkiyahu.

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

 

“We have just received the annual World Bank Doing Business report, which ranks the ease of doing business in various countries. There are around 200 countries. One year ago, we advanced from 54th place to 49th place and this year we leaped to 35th place, a very great jump. There is still a way to go but the work that has been done by the Finance Ministry, including the Accountant General, the Justice Ministry and our ministry is a very welcome effort that is changing the face of the Israeli economy. This is an important achievement. It must be continued.”

 

Finance Minister Kahlon:

 

“It seems that lowering taxes is one of the most important parameters in jumping us forward in the ranking. But this is great news for the Israeli economy. It is a signal. The messages are also for global markets and international investors: Come invest here. It is much easier to do business; there is much less bureaucracy. And of course [it is a message] for the international credit rating firms, which see that the State of Israel is moving in the right direction.”

 

Accountant General Chizkiyahu:

 

“We formed the committee in 2017, in the framework of which we are trying to deal with the entire bureaucratic process regarding the ease of doing business concomitant with the process being led by the Prime Minister’s Office in reducing regulation or the surplus of existing regulation. I think that what we have done is to combine the work of many ministries in a common effort: The Justice Ministry, the Tax Authority, the Prime Minister’s Office and others. Together, I think, we have succeeded in indicating the many actions we have taken in this field to the World Bank, which ranks them. In the end, this has brought about results. We are just starting out; we still have much work to do. Improving the ease of doing business will, in the end, lead us to greater productivity, which will accelerate growth; this is our goal.”