The Secretariats of Economy (SE) and Finance and Public Credit (SHCP, both by its initials in Spanish), in coordination with the World Bank and the C-strategy consultancy, announced the start of works to integrate the report "Doing Business Mexico 2016" that seeks to measure the ease for doing business in the 32 states of the country, with emphasis on the small and medium-sized enterprises.

The report will assess various regulations, procedures and costs, at the federal and local levels, that impact the business environment in different stages of the life of the small and medium-sized enterprises.

The areas in which the report will focus are the times, costs and procedures necessary for starting a business, obtaining construction permits, registering property and enforcing contracts between companies.

The study is a useful tool in the analysis of strengths and areas of opportunity for the states of the country; it allows to share best practices, as well as establish peer learning processes and promote regulatory improvement at all three levels of government. It also contains relevant information for decision-making of small enterprises and the general public.

Its first edition was held in 2005. In its latest edition, the study stressed that all the states made at least one reform that favored the business environment in at least one of the indicators evaluated.

The Department of Competition and Regulation of the SE, Rocío Ruiz Chávez said that, studies such as Doing Business subnational "allow us to have a specific reference of procedures and processes close to the entrepreneur and with valuable practices that can be shared with other states and municipalities".

She added that in the progress of regulatory reform in the country and in the reduction of the gaps between the different entities, the Government of the Republic and the Secretariat of Economy in particular, "our priority is to improve the business environment, increase the investment, the competitiveness and the economic growth to benefit all Mexicans".

Referring herself to the results of the Doing Business 2014 and comparative with countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Undersecretary Ruiz Chávez cited examples of progress in regulatory matters in Mexico:

-In Average, the business climate in the country converges with respect to the average of the high-income countries of the OECD.

-The Number of days indicated in the "starting a business" indicator dropped from 14 to 12 days, while the rest of the OECD member countries have an average of 11 days.

-In Terms of building permits, the average in Mexico was reduced from 74 to 63 days, while the other member countries of the OECD have an average of 146 days.

Doing Business in Mexico 2016 is the sixth edition of the study and will be published during the second half of 2016.

In this ad were present Mierta Capaul, leading specialist of the subnational and regional Doing Business of the World Bank Group; Mónica González García, President of the Mexican Association of Secretaries of Economic Development (AMSDE, by its initials in Spanish); Aunard Agustin de la Rocha, Coordinator of the Permanent Commission of Fiscal Officers; and Marcela Andrade Martínez, Head of the Unit of Coordination with Federal Entities of the Secretariat of Finance.