Lithuania ranks first in OECD Product Market Regulation Index
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published its Product Market Regulation Index, which ranks Lithuania in first place this year. Compared to the last survey five years ago, Lithuania has moved up nine places.
"We are leading the way in product market regulation, which shows that we are on the right track - the OECD says that economies that score higher on this index are more productive and have more consistently growing labour markets. Not only are we becoming more competitive, but we are also setting an example of how to apply a targeted standard for the regulatory environment," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The index reflects a country's ability to create pro-competitive regulation and compares the speed and administrative burden of various procedures, such as licensing and starting a business, between countries.
Compared to the 2018 assessment, Lithuania has made the most progress in the area of state-owned enterprises, moving up from 33rd to 9th place. The main factor contributing to this was the consistent improvement in the management of state-owned enterprises, with the successful merger of companies with the same activities, such as forestry companies and road maintenance companies, in order to consolidate them and centralise their management. The review of the activities and legal form of the companies and the change of their legal form from a state-owned company to a joint-stock company also contributed to this.
"By regulating product markets, we are focusing on promoting a high value-added economy that will help our companies and national institutions to become more efficient. I have no doubt that we will maintain our growth momentum and remain a leading country in the future," said Ieva Valeškaitė, Deputy Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
Lithuania also scored best among OECD countries in terms of licences and permits (1st place), administrative and regulatory burden (5th place) and ease and speed of starting a business (5th place). The Ministry of Economy and Innovation is continuing its efforts to improve the regulatory environment for business by submitting amendments to the Law on Public Administration to the Seimas to clearly define licensing conditions and consolidate the principles of smart business supervision.
The Ministry is also currently implementing a project to modernise and unify the licensing process by integrating the Service and Product Contact Centre, the Central e-Government Gateway Portal and the Licensing Information System (LIS), so that a person can find all the necessary information on the requirements for the activity he or she intends to carry out and order all the necessary licences in one place.
The OECD has recommended that Lithuania should ensure that public and municipal enterprises are subject to the same legal, financial and regulatory requirements as private enterprises to ensure a level playing field. Lithuania has also made progress in this area, moving from 37th to 29th place in five years.
This year, the OECD added a new component to its assessment methodology - the online market assessment. The aspects assessed included market competitiveness, equal access to trade for all market participants and data protection. EU directives already regulate these areas quite extensively, and many EU member states score highly in this category.
Compared to other countries, Lithuania, Sweden and Ireland were found to have the simplest and most growth-oriented market regulations. The Estonians moved up six places in this year's OECD Product Market Regulation Index, from 12th to 6th, while the Latvians fell from 11th to 14th.
More information on the OECD Product Market Regulation Index can be found here.
Last updated: 11-07-2024
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