Government efforts to deregulate the economy has caught global investors’ attention as Indonesia’s ranking in the Ease of Doing Business index for 2017 has climbed 15 places to 91, from the previous rank of 106.

In the World Bank index, this year titled “Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All”, Indonesia is among the world’s top 10 improvers based on reforms undertaken, along with Bahrain, Belarus, Brunei Darussalam, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Pakistan, Serbia and United Arab Emirates.

“The Indonesian government has done a lot to enhance the quality of the business environment for the private sector, particularly in the last three years.” said World Bank Indonesia country director Rodrigo Chaves in a press statement on Wednesday.

He highlighted seven key areas that Indonesia had undertaken reforms in, including the ease to establish a business, access to electricity, registering property, acquiring finance, paying taxes, cross-border trade and establishing contracts.

On average, Rodrigo explained, it now took 58 days for a business entity to connect to the power grid, faster than the previous era when it could take up to 79 days. He specifically commended the Jakarta and Surabaya administrations.

In Jakarta, the process of dealing with state electricity firm PLN to access electricity for warehousing, for instance, has become faster. Meanwhile in Surabaya, applying for a new electricity connection has become simpler for businesspeople.

In its global country rankings in business efficiency, the index awarded top spot to New Zealand, followed by Singapore. (ags)