WB lowers S Korea biz-friendly ranking 7 steps to 30th

SEOUL, June 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's business friendly ranking dips to the 30th place in the world, 7 steps down from a year earlier, mainly due to labor restrictions and red tape, an annual report of the World Bank said Thursday.

According to the World Bank's Doing Business report 2008, South Korea received failing grades in the categories of starting a business, employing workers and taxation in which it ranked 100th,131st and 106th place respectively among 178 investigated countries.

South Korea also did poorly in property registration and investor protection ranking 68th and 64th place each, the report said, adding that the country did relatively well in areas related to licensing and getting credit.

Among all the countries examined for ease of doing business by the World Bank, Singapore ranked the first, followed by New Zealand and the United States.