Doing Business in the Caribbean 2017: Central America Leads By Example

Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All is the 14^th in the long-standing series of co-publications by the World Bank and International Financial Corporation (IFC). This annual report on the ease in doing business, now in 190 nations, covers the period from June 2015 to June 2016.

For the past 3 years, I have reviewed such reports and, with the exception of last year, published two articles from each: first examining the global ranking of Caribbean states, followed by an itemized breakdown of their performance. This article reviews “Doing Business 2017”.

Last year Doing Business 2016: Measuring Regulatory Quality and Efficiency used a new methodology for its analysis and also additional data not previously measured. So, comparison with the previous year was difficult, to say the least, and proved too much to allow writing a second article.

Like the last, the current report has also made changes which make an itemized breakdown difficult, if not impossible. So, this article will again be limited to the review of global rankings of Caribbean States; and again, the states referred to will be members of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).

The two tables below present data for these states. Last year’s data is included as a convenience, but it is stressed that differences may simply indicate the change in the methodology used in preparing the report, which negatively impacted only the ranking of the Caribbean Islands.

ACS Caribbean Island States	Population (Millions)	Income (US $)	2016	2017
Caribbean Islands	29.9	6,455	104	111
Caribbean SIDS	8.9	13,687	98	110
Puerto Rico (US)	3.5	19,150	57	55
Independent Caribbean SIDS	5.4	10,107	102	115
Jamaica	2.7	5,010	64	67
Trinidad	1.4	18,600	88	96
Bahamas, The	0.4	21,310	106	121
Barbados	0.3	14,800	119	117
OECS	0.7	9,370	107	116
St. Lucia	0.2	7,390	77	87
Dominica	0.1	6,760	91	101
Antigua & Barbuda	0.1	13,390	104	113
St. Vincent & the Grenadines	0.1	6,670	111	125
St. Kitts & Nevis	0.1	15,560	124	134
Grenada	0.1	8,430	135	138
Large Caribbean Island States	21.2	3,450	137	142
Dominican Republic	10.5	6,130	93	103
Haiti	10.7	820	182	181

Table 1: Ratings of Caribbean Islands

Table 1 conveys information on 13 Caribbean Islands, divided into two groups: 11 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and 2 large island-states: namely the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The SIDS group is further sub-divided into three groups.

Puerto Rico, being the only SIDS that is not politically independent, is a group unto itself. The 6 smallest islands belong to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); and, the remaining 4 states comprise the last group.

Table 2 conveys information on 12 ACS Latin American (LatAm) states. Like the Caribbean Islands, these LatAm states are divided into two groups – Central, and South American States. The former comprises 8 states and the latter 4 states.

ACS Latin American States	Population (Millions)	Income (US $)	2016	2017
Latin American States	250.8	8,850	102	102
Central American States	169.7	8,480	86	85
Mexico	127.0	9,710	38	47
Costa Rica	4.8	10,210	58	62
Panama	3.9	12,050	69	70
Guatemala	16.3	3,590	81	88
El Salvador	6.1	3,940	86	95
Honduras	8.1	2,270	110	105
Belize	0.4	4,420	120	112
Nicaragua	6.1	1,940	125	127
South American States	81.1	9,640	133	127
Colombia	48.2	7,130	54	53
Guyana	0.8	4,090	137	124
Suriname	0.5	9,300	156	158
Venezuela	31.1	12,080	186	187

Table 2: Ratings of ACS Latin American States

It should also be noted that this table includes three CARIFORUM member-states: Belize, in the Central American group, as well as Guyana and Suriname in the South American group. With the exception of Puerto Rico, all Caribbean islands in table 1 are CARIFORUM states.

Doing Business Regional Profile 2017: Latin America and the Caribbean lists 32 LAC states. With the exception of Puerto Rico, 24 of these are ACS members. The 17 remaining LAC states are all located in South America. Average rating for the Caribbean Island ACS members is below the LAC average of 107.

But, 9 of the top 12 LAC performers are ACS member states, just like “Doing Business 2015”, but less than the top 10 in “Doing Business 2016”. Again, this is mostly due to the superior rankings of the Central American sub-group, though this number does include 3 Caribbean Island ACS members.

Currently, the top 12 ranked LAC performers, from highest to lowest, are: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Saint Lucia, Guatemala, Uruguay, El Salvador, Trinidad and Tobago. Of these, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay are the only states that are not ACS members.

Six LatAm ACS member-states are in the top 12: Colombia being the sole South American member, of its group of 4. Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Guatemala and El Salvador comprise the remaining 5, of the 8 member Central American group.

No large Caribbean-Island state is present. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago are 2 of the 4 larger ACS SIDS that are top performers. Puerto Rico is also among the top performers. But, Saint Lucia is the sole member of the 6 OECS members that is a top performer.

The superior ranking of the LatAm sub-group is specifically due to performance of Mexico, and Colombia: Mexico with rank of 47 being best performer in the Central America group and Colombia, ranked 53, best of the South America group. The former being ranked higher than the latter.

Only 2 of the 8 Central American group members were below the LAC average. One which was below average – Belize - is a CARIFORUM member. Otherwise, only Puerto Rico, and Jamaica ranked above the Central America group average of 85.

Regrettably, ACS still comprises 7 of the 8 lowest ranked economies in LAC. In ascending order from the lowest, these are: Venezuela, Haiti, Suriname, Bolivia, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Nicaragua, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Bolivia is the sole non-ACS member.

The South American group has the largest discrepancy in ranks: Colombia is at the top with 53 and Venezuela the last at 187: the remaining 2 – Guyana and Suriname – being CARIFORUM members: Suriname and Venezuela being in the bottom 8.

The Association of Caribbean States not only has the most capable states to effect reform, but it also has the most deserving of states. Therefore, it seems to be the body most suitable to facilitate this reform in the shortest order. Indifference to reform should not be allowed to further deteriorate performance.

Central America is leading by example. Can other ACS members, including CARIFORUM members, follow suit? Can we all collaborate to bring about well-needed reform and a better future? We can, and we must, but we need to actively effect change now and stop procrastinating.


Paul Hay is a Jamaican national, founder of PAUL HAY Capital Projects: a consultancy, based in Kingston Jamaica, with a vision of providing strategic planning and implementation services to organizations for non-residential facilities in the Caribbean.

Related articles:

Doing Business in the Caribbean 2018: El Salvador Shines

Doing Business in the Caribbean 2016: Central America shows the way

Greater Caribbean Business in 2015

Doing Business in the Caribbean 2015: Who Cares?

Business in the Caribbean 2014: CARIFORUM needs Reform, part 2

Business in the Caribbean 2014: CARIFORUM needs Reform

Singapore: Example to the Caribbean in Doing Business