Latin America is generally known as a region of ubiquitous red tape, where bureaucratic procedures and long wait times to complete them can cause ones patience to wear thin. Yet to what extent does this image hold true in the reality of doing business in Latin America? For some idea of the business climate of the region, we can turn to the recently released World Bank Group’s report “Doing Business 2008.”

According to its website, the Doing Business Project annually seeks to “provide objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries.” The guide ranks countries on overall ease of doing business based on ten indicators, including the ease and cost of starting a business, paying taxes, acquiring warehouse licenses, and trading across borders.

How does Latin America fair? As a general group, not great. In terms of starting a business, Latin America and the Caribbean fall just behind Sub-Saharan Africa in the number of procedures required (9.8) and averages the most number of days required (68). As for paying taxes, the region ranks number 2 in the quantity of hours required for a medium-sized company to prepare and pay taxes, with an average of 406.6 hours per year. However, it fell in the middle of the pack in terms of the total percentage of profit paid in taxes. Latin America and the Caribbean were also ranked in the middle in terms of cost and time required for international trade.

Of course, Latin America and the Caribbean is a diverse region and ample variation exists among countries´ business regulations. “Doing Business” allows the reader to view the ranking of an individual country compared to all 178 countries studied, or within its particular region. In Latin America and the Caribbean, Puerto Rico was determined to be the easiest in which to do business, followed by Chile, whereas Venezuela ranked last. When compared to all 178 countries, Puerto Rico came in 28th; Chile, 33rd; and Venezuela, 172nd. One can appreciate the extreme differences among nations by taking into account just one of the indicators, paying taxes. The average mid-sized company in Puerto Rico spends 140 hours a year on this responsibility, 552 in Mexico, 864 in Venezuela, and in Brazil a whopping 2,600 hours are dedicated to the procedure of preparing and paying taxes!

For a more detailed look at the business climate in Latin America and around the world, check out the report yourselves at www.doingbusiness.org.