World Bank Doing Business report benchmarks Hungarian cities

In Hungary, the report benchmarks the capital of Budapest, along with Debrecen, Győr, Miskolc, Pécs, Szeged and Székesfehérvár in the areas of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, connecting electricity, registering property and enforcing contracts.

While Hungarian cities outperform the European Union average in property registration and commercial dispute resolution, they lag behind in other areas, such as starting a business or receiving construction permits, according to the report, the World Bank said.

"By capturing differences in business regulations and their enforcement across different cities within a country, Subnational Doing Business reports uncover roadblocks as well as good practices in vital areas of business activity. We hope this report will draw the attention of policymakers in Budapest and beyond and serve as a starting point for reforms that can be adopted without major legislative changes," said Cecile Fruman, Director in the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice of the World Bank Group, at the reportʼs launch in Székesfehérvár.

The report found that business start-up costs are high in Hungarian cities, compared with other EU locations, although settling a commercial dispute is fast and inexpensive in most cities. It also showed that Hungarian cities outperform the EU average in the areas of property registration and commercial dispute resolution, and Pécs and Szeged also do so in the area of construction permits. There is still room to improve for all cities in starting a business, connecting electricity, and dealing with construction permits, the World Bank added.

The report is one of a series of subnational reports being produced by the World Bank Group at the request of and funded by the European Commission. The first edition also benchmarks six cities in Bulgaria and nine in Romania, besides the seven cities in Hungary. The report will be published in full on July 13.