The World Bank and International Finance Corporation's (IFC) report on the business-friendliness of countries placed Saudi Arabia at 16th and the UAE at 46th place in a list of 181 countries.

The 'Doing Business' project evaluates 181 economies based on 10 indicators including the time and cost to meet government requirements in starting and operating a business, trading across borders, paying taxes, and closing a business, according to a report in the Gulf News.

The rankings do not count areas such as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates.

'Saudi Arabia made it easier to start a business by continuing to simplify formalities for commercial registration and reducing registration fees by 80 per cent,' said the report.

The list was topped by Singapore, followed by New Zealand, the US, Hong Kong, Denmark, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Norway.

Congo was the least business-friendly country.