Profil économique : Haïti

Economy Profile: Haiti Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized © 2012 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433 Telephone 202-473-1000 Internet www.worldbank.org All rights reserved. 1 2 3 4 08 07 06 05 A copublication of The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. This volume is a product of the staff of the World Bank Group. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. Rights and Permissions The material in this publication is copyrighted. 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Copies of Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World, Doing Business 2011: Making a Difference for Entrepreneurs , Doing Business 2010: Reforming through Difficult Times , Doing Business 2009 , Doing Business 2008 , Doing Business 2007: How to Reform , Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs , Doing Business in 2005: Removing Obstacles to Growth and Doing Business in 2004: Understanding Regulations may be downloaded at www.doingbusiness.org . ISBN: 978-0-8213-8833-4 E-ISBN: 978-0-8213-8834-1 DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8833-4 ISSN: 1729-2638 Printed in the United States 3 Haiti Doing Business 2012 CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 4 The business environment .......................................................................................................... 5 Starting a business ..................................................................................................................... 14 Dealing with construction permits ........................................................................................... 24 Getting electricity ....................................................................................................................... 33 Registering property .................................................................................................................. 39 Getting credit .............................................................................................................................. 49 Protecting investors ................................................................................................................... 56 Paying taxes ................................................................................................................................ 66 Trading across borders .............................................................................................................. 74 Enforcing contracts .................................................................................................................... 83 Resolving insolvency .................................................................................................................. 90 Data notes ................................................................................................................................... 96 Resources on the Doing Business website ............................................................................ 101 4 Haiti Doing Business 2012 INTRODUCTION Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. In a series of annual reports Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time. The data set covers 46 economies in Sub- Saharan Africa, 32 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 24 in East Asia and the Pacific, 24 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 18 in the Middle East and North Africa and 8 in South Asia, as well as 31 OECD high- income economies. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Haiti. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2011 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January – December 2010). The Doing Business methodology has limitations. Other areas important to business —such as an economy‘s proximity to large markets, the quality of its infrastructure services (other than those related to trading across borders and getting electricity), the security of property from theft and looting, the transparency of government procurement, macroeconomic conditions or the underlying strength of institutions — are not directly studied by Doing Business . The indicators refer to a specific type of business, generally a local limited liability company operating in the largest business city. Because standard assumptions are used in the data collection, comparisons and benchmarks are valid across economies. The data not only highlight the extent of obstacles to doing business; they also help identify the source of those obstacles, supporting policy makers in designing regulatory reform. More information is available in the full report. Doing Business 2012 presents the indicators, analyzes their relationship with economic outcomes and recommends regulatory reforms. The data, along with information on ordering Doing Business 2012 , are available on the Doing Business website at http://www.doingbusiness.org. 5 Haiti Doing Business 2012 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT For policy makers trying to improve the ir economy‘s regulatory environment for business, a good place to start is to find out how it compares with the regulatory environment in other economies. Doing Business provides an aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business based on indicator sets that measure and benchmark regulations applying to domestic small to medium-size businesses through their life cycle. Economies are ranked from 1 to 183 by the ease of doing business index. For each economy the index is calculated as the ranking on the simple average of its percentile rankings on each of the 10 topics included in the index in Doing Business 2012 : starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. The ranking on each topic is the simple average of the percentile rankings on its component indicators (see the data notes for more details). 1 The aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business benchmarks each economy‘s performance on the indicators against that of all other economies in the Doing Business sample (figure 1.1). While this ranking tells much about the business environment in an economy, it does not tell the whole story. The ranking on the ease of doing business, and the underlying indicators, do not measure all aspects of the business environment that matter to firms and investors or that affect the competitiveness of the economy. Still, a high ranking does mean that the government has created a regulatory environment conducive to operating a business. ECONOMY OVERVIEW Region : Latin America & Caribbean Income category : Low income Population : 9,958,175 GNI per capita (US$) : 650.00 DB2012 rank : 174 DB201 1 rank : 166 Change in ran k : - 8 Note: See the data notes for sources and definitions . 1 Except for the ease of getting credit, for which the percentile rankings on its component indicators are weighted, the depth of credit information index at 37.5% and the strength of legal rights index at 62.5%. 6 Haiti Doing Business 2012 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.1 Where economies stand in the global ranking on the ease of doing business Source: Doing Business database. 7 Haiti Doing Business 2012 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT For policy makers, knowing where their economy stands in the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business is useful. Also useful is to know how it ranks compared with other economies and compared with the regional average (figure 1.2). The ec onomy‘s rankings on the topics included in the ease of doing business index provide another perspective (figure 1.3). Figure 1.2 How Haiti and comparator economies rank on the ease of doing business Source: Doing Business database. 8 Haiti Doing Business 2012 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Figure 1.3 How Haiti ranks on Doing Business topics Source: Doing Business database. 9 Haiti Doing Business 2012 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Just as the overall ranking on the ease of doing business tells only part of the story, so do changes in that ranking. Yearly movements in rankings can provide some indication of changes in an economy‘s regulatory environment for firms, but they are always relative. An economy‘s ranking might change because of developments in other economies. An economy that implemented business regulation reforms may fail to rise in the rankings (or may even drop) if it is passed by others whose business regulation reforms had a more significant impact as measured by Doing Business . Moreover, year-to-year changes in the overall rankings do not reflect how the business regulatory environment in an economy has changed over time — or how it has changed in different areas. To aid in assessing such changes, Doing Business 2012 introduces the distance to frontier measure. This measure shows the distance of each economy to the ―frontier,‖ a synthetic measure based on the most efficient practice or highest score observed for each Doing Business indicator across all economies and years included in the Doing Business sample since 2005. Nine areas of business regulation are covered. Comparing the measure for an economy at 2 points in time allows users to assess how much the economy‘s regulatory environment as measured by Doing Business has changed over time — how far it has moved toward (or away from) the most efficient practices and strongest regulations in areas covered by Doing Business (figure 1.4). The results may show that the pace of change varies widely across the areas measured. They also may show that an economy is relatively close to the frontier in some areas and relatively far from it in others. Figure 1.4 How far has Haiti come in the areas measured by Doing Business ? Distance to frontier, 2005 and 2011 Note: For economies added to the Doing Business sample after 2005, the starting point is the year in which they were added: 2006 for Montenegro; 2007 for Brunei Darussalam, Liberia and Luxembourg; 2008 for The Bahamas, Bahrain and Qatar; and 2009 for Cyprus and Kosovo. See the data notes for more details on the distance to frontier measure. Source: Doing Business database. 10 Haiti Doing Business 2012 THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT The absolute values of the indicators tell another part of the story (table 1.1). The indicators, on their own or in comparison with the indicators of a good practice economy or those of comparator economies in the region, may reveal bottlenecks reflected in large numbers of procedures, long delays or high costs. Or they may reveal unexpected strengths in an area of business regulation — such as a regulatory process that can be completed with a small number of procedures in a few days and at a low cost. Comparison of the economy‘s indicators today with those in the previous year may show where substantial bottlenecks persist — and where they are diminishing. Table 1.1 Summary of Doing Business indicators for Haiti Indicator Haiti DB 20 12 Haiti DB 20 11 Dominican Republic DB2012 Guyana DB2012 Jamaica DB2012 Puerto Rico (U.S.) DB2012 Suriname DB2012 Trinidad and Tobago DB2012 Best performer g lobally DB2012 Starting a Business (rank) 180 176 140 87 23 173 74 New Zealand (1) Procedures (number) 12 12 7 8 6 13 9 Canada (1)* Time (days) 105 105 19 26 7 694 43 New Zealand (1) Cost (% of income per capita) 314.2 250.9 18.2 14.6 7.2 115.0 0.9 Denmark (0.0)* Paid - in Min. Capital (% of income per capita) 23.2 2 0.7 55.7 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 82 Economies (0.0)* Dealing with Construction Permits (rank) 139 135 105 28 49 98 93 Hong Kong SAR, China (1) Procedures (number) 9 9 14 8 8 11 17 Denmark (5) Time (days) 1129 1179 216 195 145 461 297 Singapore (26)* Co st (% of income per capita) 764.5 465.7 82.1 17.5 227.5 72.0 6.0 Qatar (1.1) 11 Haiti Doing Business 2012 Indicator Haiti DB 20 12 Haiti DB 20 11 Dominican Republic DB2012 Guyana DB2012 Jamaica DB2012 Puerto Rico (U.S.) DB2012 Suriname DB2012 Trinidad and Tobago DB2012 Best performer g lobally DB2012 Getting Electricity (rank) 75 70 123 144 112 38 24 Iceland (1) Procedures (number) 4 4 7 7 6 4 5 Germany (3)* Time (days) 66 66 87 109 96 58 61 Germany (17) Cost (% of income per capita) 4032.8 3345.3 356.7 518.7 354.6 647.1 7.9 Japan (0.0) Registering Property (rank) 131 129 105 104 103 170 175 New Zealand (3) Procedures (number) 5 5 7 6 6 6 8 Portugal (1)* Time (days) 301 301 60 75 37 197 162 Portugal (1) Cost (% of property value) 6.6 6.3 3.7 4.6 7.5 13.8 7.0 Slovak Republic (0.0) Getting Credit (rank) 159 139 78 166 98 159 40 United Kingdom (1)* Strength of legal rights index (0 - 10) 3 3 3 4 8 5 8 New Zealand (10)* Depth of credit information ind ex (0 - 6) 2 2 6 0 0 0 4 Japan (6)* Public registry coverage (% of adults) 0.7 0.7 35.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Portugal (86.2) Private bureau coverage (% of adults) 0.0 0.0 54.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 46.0 New Zealand (100.0)* Protecting Investors (rank) 166 166 65 7 9 79 181 24 New Zealand (1) Extent of disclosure index (0 - 10) 2 2 5 5 4 1 4 France (10)* 12 Haiti Doing Business 2012 Indicator Haiti DB 20 12 Haiti DB 20 11 Dominican Republic DB2012 Guyana DB2012 Jamaica DB2012 Puerto Rico (U.S.) DB2012 Suriname DB2012 Trinidad and Tobago DB2012 Best performer g lobally DB2012 Extent of director liability index (0 - 10) 3 3 4 5 8 0 9 Singapore (9)* Ease of shareholder suits index (0 - 10) 4 4 8 6 4 5 7 New Zealand (10)* Strength of i nvestor protection index (0 - 10) 3.0 3.0 5.7 5.3 5.3 2.0 6.7 New Zealand (9.7) Paying Taxes (rank) 118 112 94 115 172 34 65 Canada (8) Payments (number per year) 46 46 9 35 72 17 39 Norway (4) Time (hours per year) 184 184 324 263 414 199 210 Luxe mbourg (59) Trading Across Borders (rank) 145 143 45 82 97 105 52 Singapore (1) Documents to export (number) 8 8 6 7 6 8 5 France (2) Time to export (days) 33 35 8 19 21 25 14 Hong Kong SAR, China (5)* Cost to export (US$ per container) 1185 100 5 1040 730 1410 995 843 Malaysia (450) Documents to import (number) 10 10 7 8 6 6 6 France (2) Time to import (days) 31 33 10 22 22 25 19 Singapore (4) Cost to import (US$ per container) 1545 1545 1150 745 1420 1065 1260 Malaysia (435) Enforcin g Contracts (rank) 96 95 83 73 126 178 169 Luxembourg (1) 13 Haiti Doing Business 2012 Indicator Haiti DB 20 12 Haiti DB 20 11 Dominican Republic DB2012 Guyana DB2012 Jamaica DB2012 Puerto Rico (U.S.) DB2012 Suriname DB2012 Trinidad and Tobago DB2012 Best performer g lobally DB2012 Time (days) 530 530 460 581 655 1715 1340 Singapore (150) Cost (% of claim) 42.6 42.6 40.9 25.2 45.6 37.1 33.5 Bhutan (0.1) Procedures (number) 35 35 34 36 35 44 42 Ireland (21)* Resolvi ng Insolvency (rank) 162 159 154 138 26 157 133 Japan (1) Time (years) 5.7 5.7 3.5 3.0 1.1 5.0 4.0 Ireland (0.4) Cost (% of estate) 30 30 38 29 18 30 25 Singapore (1)* Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 5.8 6.7 9.5 17.6 65.3 8.6 17.9 Japan (92.7 ) Note: The methodology for the paying taxes indicators changed in Doing Business 2012 ; see the data notes for details. For these indicators, the best performer globally is the economy that has implemented the most efficient practices in its tax system and is not necessarily the one with the highest ranking. For more information on “no practice” marks, see the data notes for details. * Two or more economies share the top ranking on this indicator. A number shown in place of an economy‘s name indicates the number of economies that share the top ranking on the indicator. For a list of these economies, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org). Source: Doing Business database. 14 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS Formal registration of companies has many immediate benefits for the companies and for business owners and employees. Legal entities can outlive their founders. Resources are pooled as several shareholders join forces to start a company. Formally registered companies have access to services and in stitutions from courts to banks as well as to new markets. And their employees can benefit from protections provided by the law. An additional benefit comes with limited liability companies. These limit the financial liability of company owners to their in vestments, so personal assets of the owners are not put at risk. Where governments make registration easy, more entrepreneurs start businesses in the formal sector, creating more good jobs and generating more revenue for the government. What do the indica tors cover? Doing Business measures the ease of starting a business in an economy by recording all procedures that are officially required or commonly done in practice by an entrepreneur to start up and formally operate an industrial or commercial business — as well as the time and cost required to complete these procedures. It also records the paid - in minimum capital that companies must deposit before registration (or within 3 months) . The ranking on the ease of starting a business is the simple average of t he percentile rankings on the 4 component indicators: procedures, time, cost and paid - in minimum capital requirement. To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses several assumptions about the business and the procedures. It assumes t hat all information is readily available to the entrepreneur and that there has been no prior contact with officials. It also assumes that all government and nongovernment entities involved in the process function without corruption. And it assumes that th e business:  Is a limited liability company, located in t he largest business city.  Conducts general commercial or industrial activities. WHAT THE STARTING A BUSINESS INDICATORS MEASURE Procedures to legally start and operate a company (number) Prere gistration (for example, name verification or reservation, notarization) Registration in the economy‘s largest business city Postregistration (for example, social security registration, company seal) Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days) Does not include time spent gathering information Each procedure starts on a separate day Procedure completed once final document is received No prior contact with officials Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita) Official costs only, no bribes No professional fees unless services required by law Paid - in minimum capital (% of income per capita) Deposited in a bank or with a notary before registration (or within 3 months)  Has a start - up capital of 10 times income per capita.  Has a turnover of at least 100 times income per capita.  Does not qualify for any special benefits.  Does not own real estate.  Is 100% domestically owned. 15 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to start a business in Haiti? According to data collected by Doing Business , starting a business there requires 12 procedures, takes 105 days, costs 314.2% of income per capita and requires paid-in minimum capital of 23.2% of income per capita (figure 2.1). Figure 2.1 What it takes to start a business in Haiti Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita): 23.2 Note: For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. 16 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS Globally, Haiti stands at 180 in the ranking of 183 economies on the ease of starting a business (figure 2.2). The rankings for comparator economies and the regional average ranking provide other useful information for assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in Haiti to start a business. Figure 2.2 How Haiti and comparator economies rank on the ease of starting a business Source: Doing Business database. 17 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS What are the changes over time? While the most recent Doing Business data reflect how easy (or difficult) it is to start a business in Haiti today, data over time show which aspects of the process have changed — and which have not (table 2.1). That can help identify where the potential for improvement is greatest. Table 2.1 The ease of starting a business in Haiti over time By Doing Business report year Indicator DB2004 DB2005 DB2006 DB2007 DB2008 DB2009 DB2010 DB2011 DB2012 Rank .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 176 180 Procedures (number) 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 12 Time (days) 202 202 202 202 202 195 195 105 105 Cost (% of income per capita) 415.4 358.5 308.1 252.4 262.8 266.0 204.0 250.9 314.2 Paid - in Min. Capital (% of income per capita) 53.6 45.6 38.7 31.2 32.2 26.6 19.8 20.7 23.2 Note: n.a. = not applicable (the economy was not included in Doing Business for that year). DB2012 rankings reflect changes to the methodology. Source: Doing Business database. 18 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS Equally helpful may be the benchmarks provided by the economies that today have the best performance regionally or globally on the procedures, time, cost or paid-in minimum capital required to start a business (figure 2.3). These economies may provide a model for Haiti on ways to improve the ease of starting a business. And changes in regional averages can show where Haiti is keeping up — and where it is falling behind. Figure 2.3 Has starting a business become easier over time? Procedures (number) Time (days) 19 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS Cost (% of income per capita) Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) Note: The economy with the best performance regionally on each indicator, and the economy with the best performance globally, are included as benchmarks. In some cases 2 or more economies share the top regional or global ranking on an indicator. In the case of paid-in minimum capital, 82 economies globally and 21 economies in Latin America & Caribbean have no paid-in minimum capital. Source: Doing Business database. 20 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS Economies around the world have taken steps making it easier to start a business — streamlining procedures by setting up a one-stop shop, making procedures simpler or faster by introducing technology and reducing or eliminating minimum capital requirements. Many have undertaken business registration reforms in stages — and they often are part of a larger regulatory reform program. Among the benefits have been greater firm satisfaction and savings and more registered businesses, financial resources and job opportunities. What business registration reforms has Doing Business recorded in Haiti (table 2.2)? Table 2.2 How has Haiti made starting a business easier — or not? By Doing Business report year DB Year Reform DB2012 No reform. DB2011 Haiti eased business start-up by eliminating the review by the president‘s or the prime minister‘s office of the incorporation act submitted for publication. DB2010 No reform. DB2009 No reform. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2005), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. 21 Haiti Doing Business 2012 STARTING A BUSINESS What are the details? Underlying the indicators shown in this chapter for Haiti is a set of specific procedures — the bureaucratic and legal steps that an entrepreneur must complete to inc o rporate and register a new firm. These are identified by Doing Business through collaboration with relevant local professionals and the study of laws, regulations and publicly available information on business entry in that economy. Following is a detaile d summary of those procedures, along with the associated time and cost. These procedures are those that apply to a company matching the standard assumptions (the ―standardized company‖) used by Doing Busine s s in collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on what the indicators measure). STANDARDIZED COMPANY City: Port au Prince Legal Form: Société Anonyme Start - up capital : 10 times GNI per capita Paid - in minimum capital (% of income per capita): 23.2 Summary of procedures for starting a business in Haiti — and the time and cost No. Procedure Time to complete Cost to complete 1 Deposit the legally required initial capital in the National Bank and obtain deposit evidence The notary deposits the legally required initial capital in the Nat ional Bank (Banque Nationale de Credit) and obtain the proof of deposit. A certified check needs to be used to pay in the National Bank, where proof of payment is provided. 1 day no charge 2 Prepare of company statutes ( Articles and Memorundum of Associ ation) The lawyer charges approximately HTG 30,000 for the drafting of the company statutes in the case of a limited liability company (SARL) and HTG 90,000 in the case of a Société Anonyme. 10 days HTG 25000 - 35000 3 Notarize the company deeds and arti cles of association The notary public must handwrite and notarize the documents at a fee of between 15,000 and 25,000 depending on the complexity of the service. 15 days HTG 15000 - 25000 notary fees 4 Pay the registration fee at the Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI) The notary pays the registration fees at the Tax Office (DGI) and proof of payment is obtained. 1 day HTG 250 (frais de dossier) + HTG 25 (vignette bleue) 5 Registration with the Commercial Registry at the Ministry of Commerce and Ind ustry and obtain the authorization of operations (Droit de fonctionnement) Lawyer submits the dossier for registration at the Ministry of Commerce 2 - 3 weeks for registration and 60 days for publication HTG 1500 for registration + HTG 20000 for publication in Le Moniteur (10 - 25 22 Haiti Doing Business 2012 No. Procedure Time to complete Cost to complete and a request for the ‗droit de fonctionnement‘. When the Ministry of Commerce has processed the application and registered the company, it forwards the file to the Moniteur for publication. Firms can begin operations before the publication, as soon as they receive authorization from the Ministry of Commerce. Since May 2009, the company‘s articles of incorporat ion do not need to be approved by the Prime Minister‘s office and the Presidency before they can be published in the Official Journal. This process takes about 60 days. The cost depends on the number of pages of the act of constitution: 2 to 9 pages: HTG 5 ,000 10 to 25 pages: HTG 20,000 26 to x pages: HTG 35,000. pages) 6 * Obtain the Tax ID number (numero d’identification fi scale - NIF) from the Tax authorities (DGI), pay fees, and obtain certificate of patente The company must file a form at the Tax Bureau (DGI) and provide an opening balance sheet on which corporate taxes will be based. A 2% tax is levied on a corporation‘s initial capital, payable annually. A company must pay the ―tax on share‖ (taxe sur action) of 0.3% per share, which will be assessed each year, and a "right of operating" tax (droit de fonctionnement) of HTG 102 payable annually, and a HTG 5 tax on the ca rte d‘identite professionelle. 15 days (simultaneous with previous procedure) HTG 50 (tax ID card) + 2% of initial capital + 0.3% per share + HTG 102 (droit de fonctionnement) + HTG 5 (taxe carte d‘identite professionelle) 7 Obtain the “Carte d’Identi te Professionelle” from the Ministry of Commerce According to Article 2 of the ―Décret du 26 septembre 1960 réglementant l‘exercice de la profession de commercant‖, all commercial entities are required to hold a ―carte d‘identité professionnelle‖. After t he payment of fees at the DGI and obtaining the certificate de patente, the entrepreneur should submit the request to obtain the ―carte d‘identité professionnelle‖ at the Ministry of Commerce. 15 - 20 days HTG 300 - 500 8 Obtain special commercial books Th e special commercial books are purchased and prepared by an accountant. 2 days HTG 5000 9 Legalize the commercial books Books are legalized by the Dean of the first instance court (Doyen du Tribunal). Each page must be sealed by the Dean of the civil co urt. 7 days HTG 1000 10 Notification to the Labor Ministry about hiring Companies must submit a declaration on the hiring of personnel to the Labor Direction within 8 days of opening. In practice, this formality is rarely respected. 1 day no charge 23 Haiti Doing Business 2012 No. Procedure Time to complete Cost to complete 1 1 Register for social security (OFATMA) The company must register with the Insurance Office for Occupational Injury, Sickness, and Maternity (OFATMA) within 15 days of opening and provide the names of all its employees (up to 6% of monthly salary is contr ibuted by the employer to social security). 1 day no charge 12 Register for Retirement Insurance Office (ONA) The company must register with the Retirement Insurance Office (ONA) within 15 days of opening and provide the name of all its employees (up t o 6% of monthly salary is contributed by the employer to retirement insurance). 1 day no charge * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Source: Doing Business database. 24 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Regulation of construction is critic al to protect the public. But it needs to be efficient, to avoid excessive constraints on a sector that plays an important part in every economy. Where complying with building regulations is excessively costly in time and money, many builders opt out. They may pay bribes to pass inspections or simply build illegally, leading to hazardous construction that puts public safety at risk. Where compliance is simple, straightforward and inexpensive, everyone is better off. What do the indicators cover? Doing Busin ess records the procedures, time and cost for a business to obtain all the necessary approvals to build a simple commercial warehouse in the economy‘s largest business city, connect it to basic utilities and register the property so that it can be used as collateral or transferred to another entity. The ranking on the ease of dealing with construction permits is the simple average of the percentile rankings on its component indicators: procedures, time and cost. To make the data comparable across economies , Doing Business uses several assumptions about the business and the warehouse, including the utility connections. The business:  Is a limited liability company operating in the construction business and located in the largest business city.  Is domestically owned and operated.  Has 6 0 builders and other employees. The warehouse:  Is a new construction (there was no previous construction on the land).  Has complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a licensed architect. WHAT THE DEALING WITH CONSTR UCTION PERMITS INDICATORS MEASURE Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates Completing all required notifications and receiving all necess ary inspections Obtaining utility connections for water, sewerage and a fixed telephone line Registering the warehouse after its completion (if required for use as collateral or for transfer of the warehouse) Time required to complete each procedure (cale ndar days) Does not include time spent gathering information Each procedure starts on a separate day Procedure completed once final document is received No prior contact with officials Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita) Offic ial costs only, no bribes  Will be connected to water, sewerage (sewage system, septic tank or their equivalent) and a fixed tele phone line. The connection to each utility network will be 10 meters (32 feet, 10 inches) long.  Will be used for general storag e, such as of books or stationery (not for goods requiring special conditions).  Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative and regulatory requirements). 25 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to comply with the formalities to build a warehouse in Haiti? According to data collected by Doing Business , dealing with construction permits there requires 9 procedures, takes 1129 days and costs 764.5% of income per capita (figure 3.1). Figure 3.1 What it takes to comply with formalities to build a warehouse in Haiti Note: For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. 26 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Globally, Haiti stands at 139 in the ranking of 183 economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits (figure 3.2). The rankings for comparator economies and the regional average ranking provide other useful information for assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in Haiti to legally build a warehouse. Figure 3.2 How Haiti and comparator economies rank on the ease of dealing with construction permits Source: Doing Business database. 27 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS What are the changes over time? While the most recent Doing Business data reflect how easy (or difficult) it is to deal with construction permits in Haiti today, data over time show which aspects of the process have changed — and which have not (table 3.1). That can help identify where the potential for improvement is greatest. Table 3.1 The ease of dealing with construction permits in Haiti over time By Doing Business report year Indicator DB2006 DB2007 DB2008 DB2009 DB2010 DB2011 DB2012 Rank .. .. .. .. .. 135 139 Procedures (number) 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Time (days) 1,179 1,179 1,179 1,179 1,179 1,179 1,129 Cost (% of income per capita) 871.8 701.5 725.0 598.6 504.9 465.7 764.5 Note: n.a. = not applicable (the economy was not included in Doing Business for that year). DB2012 rankings reflect changes to the methodology. For more information on “no practice” marks, see the data notes for details. Source: Doing Business database. 28 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Equally helpful may be the benchmarks provided by the economies that today have the best performance regionally or globally on the procedures, time or cost required to deal with construction permits (figure 3.3). These economies may provide a model for Haiti on ways to improve the ease of dealing with construction permits. And changes in regional averages can show where Haiti is keeping up — and where it is falling behind. Figure 3.3 Has dealing with construction permits become easier over time? Procedures (number) Time (days) 29 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Cost (% of income per capita) Note: The economy with the best performance regionally on each indicator, and the economy with the best performance globally, are included as benchmarks. In some cases 2 or more economies share the top regional or global ranking on an indicator. In cases where no data are displayed above for the economy, this indicates that the economy has received a “no practice” mark; see the data notes for details. Source: Doing Business database. 30 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS Smart regulation ensures that standards are met while making compliance easy and accessible to all. Coherent and transparent rules, efficient processes and adequate allocation of resources are especially important in sectors where safety is at stake. Construction is one of them. In an effort to ensure building safety while keeping compliance costs reasonable, governments around the world have worked on consolidating permitting requirements. What construction permitting reforms has Doing Business recorded in Haiti (table 3.2)? Table 3.2 How has Haiti made dealing with construction permits easier — or not? By Doing Business report year DB Year Reform DB2012 Haiti made dealing with construction permits costlier by increasing the fees to obtain a building permit. DB2011 No reform. DB2010 No reform. DB2009 No reform. Note: For information on reforms in earlier years (back to DB2006), see the Doing Business reports for these years, available at http://www.doingbusiness.org. Source: Doing Business database. 31 Haiti Doing Business 2012 DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION PERMITS What are the details? The indicators reported here for Haiti are based on a set of specific procedures — the steps that a company must complete to legally build a warehouse — identified by Doing Business through information collected from experts in construction licensing, including architects, construction lawyers, construction firms, utility service providers and public officials who deal with building regulations. These procedures are those that apply to a company and structure matching the standard assumptions used by Doing Business in collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on what the indicators cover). BUILDING A WAREHOUSE City : Port au Prince Estimated Warehouse Value : HTG 10,709,400 The procedures, along with the associated time and cost, are summarized below. Summary of procedures for dealing with construction permits in Haiti — and the time and cost No. Procedure Time to complete Cost to complete 1 Request building permit The M inistry of Public Works does not deliver directly the building permit, but studies the file and provides technical advice/approval of the plans. The engineering department will merely give its advice on the feasibility of this project and nothing else. Th e building permit will be delivered by the Municipality. According to the law, a commercial warehouse should be charged at 75 gourdes for the length of the building facing the road, and multiply by the number of floors. And if the building has 2 sides fac ing the road, then both sides will be counted and charged accordingly. However, in practice, this is not done. The Municipality charges between 125 – 175 gourdes per square meter. For a warehouse as the one being constructed by BuildCo it will be aroun d 150 gourdes X 1300 square meters for the building permit – this is called ―le droit d‘alignement‖. The company requesting the permit must submit the following documents: a. Plan and acte d‘arpentage, titre de propriete (3 copies) b. Plan de localisation (3 copies) c. Plan d‘ensemble, plan de la facade (3 copies) d. Plan de construction (fondation, electricite, plomberie) (3 copies) e. Cahier de charge f. Pantente de l‘ingenieur ou le Quittus fiscale de l‘entreprise (1 copie) ; this basically shows that the engineer or the construction company has no pending tax obligations g. Lettre de demande d‘autorisation (1 copie) 30 days HTG 195,090 2 Obtain site inspection by engineer from the municipality A request is made for a site inspection. The owner or th e engineer 1 day no charge 32 Haiti Doing Business 2012 No. Procedure Time to complete Cost to complete must be at the site for the inspection. After this inspection and within 15 days, the Municipality will issue a ―Bordereau de paiement‖ to be paid at the DGI. If the amount is over 15 000 gourdes, it must be by certified Check to the order of the DGI. 3 Obtain and pay to the Direction Generale des Impots Payment is made at the DGI and proof of payment is delivered back to the Municipality. 15 days no charge 4 Obtain building permit A building permit is delivered to the party . 1 day no charge 5 Receive municipal inspection Municipal inspections at the completion of construction are rare, though they are authorized by law. 1 day no charge 6 Request phone connection from TELECO Telephone connections over the network of Haiti ‘s public telephone company, TELECO, are poor. The application form can be filled out and submitted within a day, but it takes longer in practice to obtain the connection. A wireless telephone connection from a private company such as HAITEL can be obtaine d immediately upon presentation of personal identification documents by the user. 1 day no charge 7 Obtain phone connection from TELECO It may take 3 – 4 years to obtain a new telephone line; at present, none are available, and they do not function. 1080 days HTG 5,000 8 * Request water connection from the National Direction of Potable Water and Sewage (Direction Nationale de l’Eau Potable et de l'Assainissement - DINEPA) The water connection is requested directly by the owner as the contract must be made in his name. It is quite easy to get a water connection. 14 days HTG 5,570 9 * Obtain water connection from the National Direction of Potable Water and Sewage (Direction Nationale de l’Eau Potable et de l'Assainissement - DINEPA) 1 day no charge * Takes place simultaneously with another procedure. Source: Doing Business database. 33 Haiti Doing Business 2012 G ETTING ELECTRICIT Y Access to reliable and affordable electricity is vital for businesses. To counter weak electricity supply, many firms in developing economies have to rel y on self - supply, often at a prohibitively high cost. Whether electricity is reliably available or not, the first step for a customer is always to gain access by obtaining a connection. What do the indicators cover? Doing Business records all procedures re quired for a local business to obtain a permanent electricity connection and supply for a standardized warehouse, as well as the time and cost to complete them. These procedures include applications and contracts with electricity utilities, clearances from other agencies and the external and final connection works. The ranking on the ease of getting electricity is the simple average of the percentile rankings on its component indicators: procedures, time and cost. To make the data comparable across economie s, several assumptions are used. The warehouse:  Is located in the economy‘s largest business city, in an area where other warehouses are located.  Is not in a special economic zone where the connection would be eligible for subsidization or faster service.  Has road access. The connection works involve the crossing of a road or roads but are carried out on public land.  Is a new construction being connected to electricity for the first time.  Has 2 stories, both above ground, with a total surface of about 1, 300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet), and is built on a plot of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). The electricity connection:  Is a 3 - phase, 4 - wire Y, 140 - kilovolt - ampere (kVA) (subscribed capacity) connection. WHAT THE GETTING ELECTRICITY INDICATORS MEASURE Procedures to obtain an electricity connection (number) Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining all necessary clearances and permits Completing all required notifications and receiving all necessary inspections Obtaining ext ernal installation works and possibly purchasing material for these works Concluding any necessary supply contract and obtaining final supply Time required to complete each procedure (calendar days) Is at least 1 calendar day Each procedure starts on a sep arate day Does not include time spent gathering information Reflects the time spent in practice, with little follow - up and no prior contact with officials Cost required to complete each procedure (% of income per capita) Official costs only, no bribes Exc ludes value added tax  Is 150 meters long.  Is to either the low - voltage or the medium - voltage distribution network and either overhead or underground, whichever is more common in the economy and in the area where the warehouse is located. The length of any connection in the customer‘s private domain is negligible.  Involves installing one electricity meter. The monthly electricity consumption will be 0.07 gigawatt - hour (GWh). The internal electrical wiring has been completed. 34 Haiti Doing Business 2012 GETTING ELECTRICITY Where does the economy stand today? What does it take to obtain a new electricity connection in Haiti? According to data collected by Doing Business, getting electricity there requires 4 procedures, takes 66 days and costs 4032.8% of income per capita (figure 4.1). Figure 4.1 What it takes to obtain an electricity connection in Haiti Note: For details on the procedures reflected here, see the summary at the end of this chapter. Source: Doing Business database. 35 Haiti Doing Business 2012 GETTING ELECTRICITY Globally, Haiti stands at 75 in the ranking of 183 economies on the ease of getting electricity (figure 4.2). The rankings for comparator economies and the regional average ranking provide another perspective in assessing how easy it is for an entrepreneur in Haiti to connect a warehouse to electricity. Figure 4.2 How Haiti and comparator economies rank on the ease of getting electricity Source: Doing Business database. 36 Haiti Doing Business 2012 GETTING ELECTRICITY Even more helpful than rankings for other economies may be the indicators underlying those rankings (table 4.1). If obtaining a new electricity connection requires fewer procedures, less time or less cost in other economies, the practices of their utilities may provide a model for Haiti on ways to improve the ease of getting electricity. Regional and global averages on these indicators may provide useful benchmarks. Table 4.1 The ease of getting electricity in Haiti and comparator economies Indicator Haiti Dominican Republic Guyana Jamaica Puerto Rico (U.S.) Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Latin America & Caribbean a verage Gl obal a verage Rank 75 123 144 112 38 24 72 .. Procedures (number) 4 7 7 6 4 5 5 5 Time (days) 66 87 109 96 58 61 65 111 Cost (% of income per capita) 4032.8 356.7 518.7 354.6 647.1 7.9 593.7 1,942.3 Source: Doing Business database. 37 Haiti Doing Business 2012 GETTING ELECTRICITY What are the details? The indicators reported here for Haiti are based on a set of specific procedures — the steps that an entrepreneur must complete to get a warehouse connected to electricity by the local distribution utility — identified by Doing Business. Data are collected from the distribution utility, then completed and verified by electricity regulatory agencies and independent professionals such as electrical engineers, electrical contractors and construction companies. The electricity distribution utility surveyed is the one serving the area (or areas) in which warehouses are located. If there is a choice of distribution utilities, the one serving the largest number of customers is selected. OBTAINING A N ELECTRICITY CONNECTION City : Port au Prince Name of Utility : Electricité d’Haiti (EdH) The procedures are those that apply to a warehouse and electricity connection matching the standard assumptions used by Doing Business in collecting the data (see the section in this chapter on what the indicators cover). The procedures, along with the associated time and cost, are summarized below. Summary of procedures for getting electricity in Haiti — and the time and cost No. Procedure Time to complete Cost t o complete 1 The client hires a private contractor who applies for electricity connection with the Electricité d'Haïti (EDH) on their behalf and client awaits estimate of connectio