Lithuania has risen three notches in the World Bank's Doing Business report this year, ranking 11th among 190 economies, its highest spot so far.

Economy and Innovation Minister Virginijus Sinkevičius expects Lithuania to make it to the top ten next year.

“The Law on Insolvency of Legal Entities, which is not included in this year's report, but has already been adopted and will take effect early next year, [...] will significantly improve Lithuania's score,” he said in a press release on Thursday.

The law puts in place more flexible and shorter bankruptcy procedures, in line with the needs of modern businesses, according to the minister.

In the Doing Business 2020 report, Lithuania outperformed both Estonia and Latvia, in the 18th and 19th places, respectively, and is the fourth-highest placed EU member state, after Denmark, the United Kingdom and Sweden, the Economy and Innovation Ministry said.

The government's programme sets the goal of reaching a spot in the top ten in next year's Doing Business report.

New Zealand and Singapore held onto their first and second spots in this year's ranking, but Hong Kong moved into the third position, pushing Denmark to number four.