Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Economy Pro le of Syria Doing Business 2018 Indicators (in order of appearance in the document) Starting a business Procedures, time, cost and paid-in minimum capital to start a limited liability company Dealing with construction Procedures, time and cost to complete all formalities to build a warehouse and the quality control and permits safety mechanisms in the construction permitting system Getting electricity Procedures, time and cost to get connected to the electrical grid, the reliability of the electricity supply and the transparency of tariffs Registering property Procedures, time and cost to transfer a property and the quality of the land administration system Getting credit Movable collateral laws and credit information systems Protecting minority investors Minority shareholders’ rights in related-party transactions and in corporate governance Paying taxes Payments, time and total tax rate for a firm to comply with all tax regulations as well as post-filing processes Trading across borders Time and cost to export the product of comparative advantage and import auto parts Enforcing contracts Time and cost to resolve a commercial dispute and the quality of judicial processes Resolving insolvency Time, cost, outcome and recovery rate for a commercial insolvency and the strength of the legal framework for insolvency Labor market regulation Flexibility in employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. Page 2   for insolvency Doing Business Labor market 2018 regulation Syrian Arab in Flexibility Republic employment regulation and aspects of job quality About Doing Business The Doing Business project provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies and selected cities at the subnational and regional level. The Doing Business project, launched in 2002, looks at domestic small and medium-size companies and measures the regulations applying to them through their life cycle. Doing Business captures several important dimensions of the regulatory environment as it applies to local rms. It provides quantitative indicators on regulation for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. Doing Business also measures features of labor market regulation. Although Doing Business does not present rankings of economies on the labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business, it does present the data for these indicators. By gathering and analyzing comprehensive quantitative data to compare business regulation environments across economies and over time, Doing Business encourages economies to compete towards more e cient regulation; o ers measurable benchmarks for reform; and serves as a resource for academics, journalists, private sector researchers and others interested in the business climate of each economy. In addition, Doing Business o ers detailed subnational reports, which exhaustively cover business regulation and reform in di erent cities and regions within a nation. These reports provide data on the ease of doing business, rank each location, and recommend reforms to improve performance in each of the indicator areas. Selected cities can compare their business regulations with other cities in the economy or region and with the 190 economies that Doing Business has ranked. The rst Doing Business report, published in 2003, covered 5 indicator sets and 133 economies. This year’s report covers 11 indicator sets and 190 economies. Most indicator sets refer to a case scenario in the largest business city of each economy, except for 11 economies that have a population of more than 100 million as of 2013 (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the United States) where Doing Business, also collected data for the second largest business city. The data for these 11 economies are a population-weighted average for the 2 largest business cities. The project has bene ted from feedback from governments, academics, practitioners and reviewers. The initial goal remains: to provide an objective basis for understanding and improving the regulatory environment for business around the world. The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. The ranking of 190 economies is determined by sorting the aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More about Doing Business (PDF, 5MB) Ease of Doing Business in Middle East & North DB 2018 Rank Region 190 1 Africa Syrian Arab Republic Income Category Lower middle income 174 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) Population 18,430,453 0 100 GNI Per Capita (US$) 1,037 41.55 City Covered Damascus DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 69.14: Turkey (Rank: 60) 60.58: Jordan (Rank: 103) 56.72: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 56.22: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 128) 54.67: Lebanon (Rank: 133) Page 3   aggregate distance to frontier scores, rounded to two decimals. More Doingabout 2018 (PDF, Doing Business Business 5MB) Syrian Arab Republic Ease of Doing Business in Middle East & North DB 2018 Rank Region 190 1 Africa Syrian Arab Republic Income Category Lower middle income 174 DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) Population 18,430,453 0 100 GNI Per Capita (US$) 1,037 41.55 City Covered Damascus DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 69.14: Turkey (Rank: 60) 60.58: Jordan (Rank: 103) 56.72: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 56.22: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 128) 54.67: Lebanon (Rank: 133) 41.55: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 174) Note: The distance to frontier (DTF) measure shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” which represents the best performance observed on each of the indicators across all economies in the Doing Business sample since 2005. An economy’s distance to frontier is re ected on a scale from 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the frontier. The ease of doing business ranking ranges from 1 to 190. Rankings on Doing Business topics - Syria 1 28 55 81 82 89 Rank 109 133 136 153 155 161 163 163 173 176 186 190 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Investors Borders Permits Distance to Frontier (DTF) on Doing Business topics - Syria 100 80.43 80 73.97 60 53.33 DTF 51.99 46.88 42.58 40 29.83 21.44 20 15.00 0.00 0 Starting Dealing Getting Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Resolving a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:+0.20 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Investors Change:0.00 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-1.00 Change:+1.50 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Starting a Business Page 4   a with Electricity Property Credit Minority Taxes across Contracts Insolvency Business Construction Change:+0.20 Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Investors Change:0.00 Borders Change:0.00 Change:-1.00 Change:+1.50 Permits Change:0.00 Change:0.00 Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Change:0.00 Starting a Business This topic measures the paid-in minimum capital requirement, number of procedures, time and cost for a small- to medium-sized limited liability company to start up and formally operate in economy’s largest business city. To make the data comparable across 190 economies, Doing Business uses a standardized business that is 100% domestically owned, has start-up capital equivalent to 10 times income per capita, engages in general industrial or commercial activities and employs between 10 and 50 people one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. Starting a Business considers two types of local limited liability companies that are identical in all aspects, except that one company is owned by 5 married women and the other by 5 married men. The distance to frontier score for each indicator is the average of the scores obtained for each of the component indicators. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally start and operate a To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions company (number) about the business and the procedures are used. It is assumed that any required information is readily available and that the entrepreneur will pay Pre-registration (for example, name verification no bribes. or reservation, notarization) Registration in economy’s largest business city The business: - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). If there is more than Post-registration (for example, social security one type of limited liability company in the economy, the most common registration, company seal) among domestic rms is chosen. Information on the most common form is Obtaining approval from spouse to start business obtained from incorporation lawyers or the statistical o ce. or leave home to register company - Operates in the economy’s largest business city and the entire o ce Obtaining any gender-specific permission that space is approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet). For 11 can impact company registration, company economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. operations and process of getting national - Is 100% domestically owned and has ve owners, none of whom is a legal identity card entity; and has a start-up capital of 10 times income per capita and has a Time required to complete each procedure turnover of at least 100 times income per capita. (calendar days) - Performs general industrial or commercial activities, such as the production or sale of goods or services to the public. The business does Does not include time spent gathering not perform foreign trade activities and does not handle products subject information to a special tax regime, for example, liquor or tobacco. It does not use Each procedure starts on a separate day (2 heavily polluting production processes. procedures cannot start on the same day) - Leases the commercial plant or o ces and is not a proprietor of real Procedures fully completed online are recorded estate and the amount of the annual lease for the o ce space is equivalent as ½ day to 1 times income per capita. Procedure is considered completed once final - Does not qualify for investment incentives or any special bene ts. document is received - Has at least 10 and up to 50 employees one month after the commencement of operations, all of whom are domestic nationals. No prior contact with officials - Has a company deed 10 pages long. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of The owners: income per capita) - Have reached the legal age of majority. If there is no legal age of majority, Official costs only, no bribes they are assumed to be 30 years old. No professional fees unless services required by - Are sane, competent, in good health and have no criminal record. law or commonly used in practice - Are married and the marriage is monogamous and registered with the authorities. Paid-in minimum capital (% of income per capita) - Where the answer di ers according to the legal system applicable to the Funds deposited in a bank or with third party woman or man in question (as may be the case in economies where there before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Standardized Company Page 5   before registration or up to 3 months after is legal plurality), the answer used will be the one that applies to the incorporation majority of the population. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Standardized Company Legal form Limited Liability Company Paid-in minimum capital requirement SYP 400,000 City Covered Damascus Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedure – Men (number) 7 7.7 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Men (days) 15 18.6 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Men (% of income per capita) 7.9 18.7 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Procedure – Women (number) 8 8.4 4.9 1.00 (New Zealand) Time – Women (days) 16 19.3 8.5 0.50 (New Zealand) Cost – Women (% of income per capita) 7.9 18.7 3.1 0.00 (United Kingdom) Paid-in min. capital (% of income per capita) 84.0 9.9 8.7 0.00 (113 Economies) Figure – Starting a Business in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 87.59: Turkey (Rank: 80) 84.53: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 103) 84.40: Jordan (Rank: 105) 82.05: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 80.43: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 133) 78.17: Lebanon (Rank: 143) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of starting a business is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Starting a Business in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 16 4.5 14 4 ost (% of income per capita) 3.5 12 3 10 Time (days) 2.5 8 2 6 1.5 Page 6   4 1 starting a business. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Starting a Business in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 16 4.5 14 4 Cost (% of income per capita) 3.5 12 3 10 Time (days) 2.5 8 2 6 1.5 4 1 2 0.5 0 0 1 2 3 *4 *5 6 7 8 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Details – Starting a Business in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs  1 APPLIES TO WOMEN ONLY: Obtain husband's permission to leave the 1 day no charge home Agency : Domicile According to Personal Status Law, Arts. 74 and 75 a woman must obtain a husbands permission to leave the marital home. Therefore, she must obtain a husbands permission to leave the home and start a business. 2 Apply for company name reservation and commercial registration at the 7 days SYP 30 Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection Agency : Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection The founders complete a draft of the memorandum of association and present it to the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection. The Ministry reviews the draft and requests that the founders make changes needed to comply with the law. If no amendments are required, the founders are called to sign the company memorandum before the Director of Interior Trade at the Ministry. Once approved, the founders are given ten certi ed copies, which they should take to the Directorate of Finance for registration upon declaring an address and place of business and paying the stamp duty. 3 Open a nancial record for the company, register for taxes and buy 3 days 0.4% of capital stamps at the tax authority of the Ministry of Finance (stamp duty) + 5% of Agency : Tax Authority the stamp duty (local administrative tax) + The founders must open a nancial record for the company at the Tax and SYP 20 (receipt Financial Department. In this procedure, the Tax Department will be stamp) informed about the start of business activities. Stamp duty is calculated at Page 7   0.4% of the capital amount, and the local administrative fee is calculated at (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Starting a Business in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs  1 APPLIES TO WOMEN ONLY: Obtain husband's permission to leave the 1 day no charge home Agency : Domicile According to Personal Status Law, Arts. 74 and 75 a woman must obtain a husbands permission to leave the marital home. Therefore, she must obtain a husbands permission to leave the home and start a business. 2 Apply for company name reservation and commercial registration at the 7 days SYP 30 Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection Agency : Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection The founders complete a draft of the memorandum of association and present it to the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection. The Ministry reviews the draft and requests that the founders make changes needed to comply with the law. If no amendments are required, the founders are called to sign the company memorandum before the Director of Interior Trade at the Ministry. Once approved, the founders are given ten certi ed copies, which they should take to the Directorate of Finance for registration upon declaring an address and place of business and paying the stamp duty. 3 Open a nancial record for the company, register for taxes and buy 3 days 0.4% of capital stamps at the tax authority of the Ministry of Finance (stamp duty) + 5% of Agency : Tax Authority the stamp duty (local administrative tax) + The founders must open a nancial record for the company at the Tax and SYP 20 (receipt Financial Department. In this procedure, the Tax Department will be stamp) informed about the start of business activities. Stamp duty is calculated at 0.4% of the capital amount, and the local administrative fee is calculated at 5% of the Stamp Duty collected. In addition a receipt stamp in the amount of SYP 20 is payable. 4 Publish the memorandum of association in the O cial Gazette 1 day, simultaneous SYP 4,000 per page Agency : O cial Gazette with procedure 2 Limited liability companies are required by law to publish the decision of the establishment of the company in the O cial Gazette. Payment is to be made to the O cial Gazette before obtaining the commercial registration certi cate. 5 Deposit the initial capital in a bank and obtain a statement thereof 1 day, simultaneous SYP 1,000 Agency : Bank with procedure 2 The founders are required to deposit initial capital (40% of the capital at the time of registration) before nalizing commercial registration with the Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection. 6 Visit commercial registry with the signed copy of the articles of 1 day SYP 10,000 incorporation Agency : Commercial Registry The company will be registered upon presenting the articles of incorporation and the other requested documents, including proof of headquarters (ownership or lease contract of the premises), bank statement for proof of deposit of the company capital, criminal record certi cate for the company signatory (usually the CEO), copies of the partners' ID cards, certi cate of no Page 8   time of registration) before nalizing commercial registration with the Doing Ministry Business 2018 Trade of Internal and Syrian Consumer Arab Protection. Republic 6 Visit commercial registry with the signed copy of the articles of 1 day SYP 10,000 incorporation Agency : Commercial Registry The company will be registered upon presenting the articles of incorporation and the other requested documents, including proof of headquarters (ownership or lease contract of the premises), bank statement for proof of deposit of the company capital, criminal record certi cate for the company signatory (usually the CEO), copies of the partners' ID cards, certi cate of no objection letter from the Ministry of Finance, and the O cial Gazette receipt. Furthermore, the company's headquarter can also be domiciled at the attorney's o ce temporarily (for a maximum period of 6 months). 7 Register with the Social Security Organization 1 day SYP 20 Agency : Social Security Organization The company must register its employees with the social security organization within 15 days of employment. The social security organization takes care of pension and worker's compensation. 8 Make a company seal 3 days SYP 2,500 Agency : Seal maker Though not explicitly cited in Syrian law, the use of a seal is a commercial custom. The o cial authorities, especially the tax authorities, assume that companies use a seal to authenticate their transactions. Under the Syrian commercial law, commercial custom is considered as a source of commercial law. The cost for obtaining a seal from the seal maker varies depending on the type of seal. Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its Page 9   registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion Applies to women only. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Dealing with Construction Permits This topic tracks the procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse—including obtaining necessary the licenses and permits, submitting all required noti cations, requesting and receiving all necessary inspections and obtaining utility connections. In addition, the Dealing with Construction Permits indicator measures the building quality control index, evaluating the quality of building regulations, the strength of quality control and safety mechanisms, liability and insurance regimes, and professional certi cation requirements. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally build a warehouse (number) To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions about the construction company, the warehouse project and the utility Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining connections are used. all necessary clearances, licenses, permits and certificates The construction company (BuildCo): Submitting all required notifications and - Is a limited liability company (or its legal equivalent) and operates in the receiving all necessary inspections economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining utility connections for water and - Is 100% domestically and privately owned; has ve owners, none of whom sewerage is a legal entity. Has a licensed architect and a licensed engineer, both Registering and selling the warehouse after its registered with the local association of architects or engineers. BuildCo is completion not assumed to have any other employees who are technical or licensed Time required to complete each procedure experts, such as geological or topographical experts. (calendar days) - Owns the land on which the warehouse will be built and will sell the warehouse upon its completion. Does not include time spent gathering information The warehouse: Each procedure starts on a separate day— - Will be used for general storage activities, such as storage of books or though procedures that can be fully completed stationery. online are an exception to this rule - Will have two stories, both above ground, with a total constructed area of Procedure is considered completed once final approximately 1,300.6 square meters (14,000 square feet). Each oor will document is received be 3 meters (9 feet, 10 inches) high and will be located on a land plot of No prior contact with officials approximately 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) that is 100% owned by BuildCo, and the warehouse is valued at 50 times income per capita. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Will have complete architectural and technical plans prepared by a warehouse value) licensed architect. If preparation of the plans requires such steps as Official costs only, no bribes obtaining further documentation or getting prior approvals from external agencies, these are counted as procedures. Building quality control index (0-15) - Will take 30 weeks to construct (excluding all delays due to administrative Sum of the scores of six component indices: and regulatory requirements). Quality of building regulations (0-2) The water and sewerage connections: Quality control before construction (0-1) - Will be 150 meters (492 feet) from the existing water source and sewer Quality control during construction (0-3) tap. If there is no water delivery infrastructure in the economy, a borehole Quality control after construction (0-3) will be dug. If there is no sewerage infrastructure, a septic tank in the smallest size available will be installed or built. Liability and insurance regimes (0-2) - Will have an average water use of 662 liters (175 gallons) a day and an Professional certifications (0-4) average wastewater ow of 568 liters (150 gallons) a day. Will have a peak water use of 1,325 liters (350 gallons) a day and a peak wastewater ow of 1,136 liters (300 gallons) a day. - Will have a constant level of water demand and wastewater ow throughout the year; will be 1 inch in diameter for the water connection and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Standardized Warehouse Page 10   and 4 inches in diameter for the sewerage connection. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Standardized Warehouse Estimated value of warehouse SYP 23,818,507.20 City Covered Damascus Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) no practice 16.2 12.5 7.00 (Denmark) Time (days) no practice 132.1 154.6 27.5 (Korea, Rep.) Cost (% of warehouse value) no practice 4.3 1.6 0.10 (5 Economies) Building quality control index (0-15) no practice 11.8 11.4 15.00 (3 Economies) Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 71.43: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 66) 67.26: Turkey (Rank: 96) 65.74: Jordan (Rank: 110) 59.84: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 59.66: Lebanon (Rank: 142) 0.00: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 186) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of dealing with construction permits is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for dealing with construction permits. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Dealing with Construction Permits in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 16 14.0 14 13.0 11.8 12 11.0 9.5 Index score 10 8 6 4 2 0 no practice Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 11   Building quality control index (0-15) No Practice Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Dealing with Construction Permits in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Building quality control index (0-15) No Practice Quality of building regulations index (0-2) No Practice How accessible are building laws and regulations in your economy? (0-1) Free of charge; 0.5 They must be purchased; Not easily accessible. Which requirements for obtaining a building permit are clearly speci ed in the building Required 0.0 regulations or on any accessible website, brochure or pamphlet? (0-1) preapprovals. Quality control before construction index (0-1) No Practice Which third-party entities are required by law to verify that the building plans are in Licensed 1.0 compliance with existing building regulations? (0-1) engineer. Quality control during construction index (0-3) No Practice What types of inspections (if any) are required by law to be carried out during Inspections by 1.0 construction? (0-2) external engineer or rm; Inspections at various phases. Do legally mandated inspections occur in practice during construction? (0-1) Mandatory 0.0 inspections are not always done in practice during construction. Quality control after construction index (0-3) No Practice Is there a nal inspection required by law to verify that the building was built in Yes, nal 2.0 accordance with the approved plans and regulations? (0-2) inspection is done by government agency; Final inspection is not required by law. Do legally mandated nal inspections occur in practice? (0-1) Final inspection 0.0 does not always occur in practice. Liability and insurance regimes index (0-2) No Practice Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company; Owner Page 12   or investor. Liability Doing 2018 regimes and insurance Business index Syrian Arab(0-2) Republic No Practice Which parties (if any) are held liable by law for structural aws or problems in the Architect or 1.0 building once it is in use (Latent Defect Liability or Decennial Liability)? (0-1) engineer; Professional in charge of the supervision; Construction company; Owner or investor. Which parties (if any) are required by law to obtain an insurance policy to cover No party is 1.0 possible structural aws or problems in the building once it is in use (Latent Defect required by law Liability Insurance or Decennial Insurance)? (0-1) to obtain insurance . Professional certi cations index (0-4) No Practice What are the quali cation requirements for the professional responsible for verifying Minimum 2.0 that the architectural plans or drawings are in compliance with existing building number of years regulations? (0-2) of experience; University degree in architecture or engineering; Being a registered architect or engineer. What are the quali cation requirements for the professional who supervises the Minimum 2.0 construction on the ground? (0-2) number of years of experience; University degree in engineering, construction or construction management; Being a registered architect or engineer. Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. Page 13   Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the architect or engineer. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Getting Electricity This topic measures the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain a permanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse. Additionally, the reliability of supply and transparency of tari s index measures reliability of supply, transparency of tari s and the price of electricity. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to obtain an electricity connection To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions are (number) used. Submitting all relevant documents and obtaining The warehouse: all necessary clearances and permits - Is owned by a local entrepreneur and is used for storage of goods. Completing all required notifications and - Is located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the receiving all necessary inspections data are also collected for the second largest business city. Obtaining external installation works and possibly - Is located in an area where similar warehouses are typically located and is purchasing material for these works in an area with no physical constraints. For example, the property is not Concluding any necessary supply contract and near a railway. obtaining final supply - Is a new construction and is being connected to electricity for the rst time. Time required to complete each procedure - Has two stories with a total surface area of approximately 1,300.6 square (calendar days) meters (14,000 square feet). The plot of land on which it is built is 929 Is at least 1 calendar day square meters (10,000 square feet). Each procedure starts on a separate day Does not include time spent gathering The electricity connection: information - Is a permanent one with a three-phase, four-wire Y connection with a subscribed capacity of 140-kilo-volt-ampere (kVA) with a power factor of 1, Reflects the time spent in practice, with little when 1 kVA = 1 kilowatt (kW). follow-up and no prior contact with officials - Has a length of 150 meters. The connection is to either the low- or Cost required to complete each procedure (% of medium-voltage distribution network and is either overhead or income per capita) underground, whichever is more common in the area where the Official costs only, no bribes warehouse is located and requires works that involve the crossing of a 10- meter road (such as by excavation or overhead lines) but are all carried out Value added tax excluded on public land. There is no crossing of other owners’ private property The reliability of supply and transparency of because the warehouse has access to a road. tari s index (0-8) - Does not require work to install the internal wiring of the warehouse. This has already been completed up to and including the customer’s service Duration and frequency of power outages (0–3) panel or switchboard and the meter base. Tools to monitor power outages (0–1) Tools to restore power supply (0–1) The monthly consumption: Regulatory monitoring of utilities’ performance - It is assumed that the warehouse operates 30 days a month from 9:00 (0–1) a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (8 hours a day), with equipment utilized at 80% of capacity Financial deterrents limiting outages (0–1) on average and that there are no electricity cuts (assumed for simplicity reasons) and the monthly energy consumption is 26,880 kilowatt-hours Transparency and accessibility of tariffs (0–1) (kWh); hourly consumption is 112 kWh. Price of electricity (cents per kilowatt-hour)* - If multiple electricity suppliers exist, the warehouse is served by the Price based on monthly bill for commercial cheapest supplier. warehouse in case study - Tari s e ective in March of the current year are used for calculation of the price of electricity for the warehouse. Although March has 31 days, for * N o t e : Doing Business m e a s u r e s t h e p r i c e o f calculation purposes only 30 days are used. electricity, but it is not included in the distance to frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Page 14   Standardized Connection frontier score nor the ranking on the ease of getting electricity. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Standardized Connection Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) 7.4 Name of utility Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) City Covered Damascus Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 5 4.8 4.7 2 (United Arab Emirates) Time (days) 146 81.4 79.1 10 (United Arab Emirates) Cost (% of income per capita) 247.3 780.3 63.0 0.00 (Japan) Reliability of supply and transparency of tariff 0 4.2 7.4 8.00 (28 Economies) index (0-8) Figure – Getting Electricity in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 83.33: Jordan (Rank: 40) 81.02: Turkey (Rank: 55) 71.24: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 89) 67.21: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 60.07: Lebanon (Rank: 123) 51.99: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 153) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting electricity is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 300 140 120 250 Cost (% of income per capita) 100 200 Time (days) 80 150 60 100 40 50 20 Page 15   getting electricity. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 300 140 120 250 Cost (% of income per capita) 100 200 Time (days) 80 150 60 100 40 50 20 0 0 1 2 *3 4 5 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 8 7 7 6 5 Index score 5 4.2 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Hire electrical engineer to supervise internal wiring 1 calendar day SYP 8,100 Agency : Electrical engineer Any electrician can carry out the internal electrical installation, but the client needs to hire an electrical engineer registered with the Syndicate of Engineers to supervise the work. The engineer cannot work in the client’s company (because of the way the engineering profession is regulated). The utility does not carry out an inspection of the internal wiring during the process.The electrical engineer supervising the works will need to design the internal installation and submit their drawings for approval by the Syndicate of Engineers. This is for the Syndicate to check the identity of the engineer Page 16   and make sure they are in fact registered with the Syndicate. Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 Hire electrical engineer to supervise internal wiring 1 calendar day SYP 8,100 Agency : Electrical engineer Any electrician can carry out the internal electrical installation, but the client needs to hire an electrical engineer registered with the Syndicate of Engineers to supervise the work. The engineer cannot work in the client’s company (because of the way the engineering profession is regulated). The utility does not carry out an inspection of the internal wiring during the process.The electrical engineer supervising the works will need to design the internal installation and submit their drawings for approval by the Syndicate of Engineers. This is for the Syndicate to check the identity of the engineer and make sure they are in fact registered with the Syndicate. 2 Submit application to PEDEEE and await estimate 31 calendar days SYP 2,500 Agency : Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) Documents needed for the application at the Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) are: • client’s ID • administrative license from local authorities (obtained during construction process) • electrical study approved by the Syndicate of Engineers comprising the requested electrical load • real estate map from the Real Estate Authority (showing number of client's property and those of neighboring properties), and • land ownership certi cate 3 Obtain external inspection by PEDEEE 1 calendar day SYP 0 Agency : Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) After the application has been submitted, the utility inspects the site. This is then followed by a technical study period to determine the details of the external works, and an estimate for the connection fees. 4 Obtain external works from PEDEEE 54 calendar days SYP 1,167,651 Agency : Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) The works can start after the client has paid the connection fees to the account of the electricity utility at the Ministry of Finance, and signed a contract with the Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE). A unit substation is needed in this case. Either the utility or a private rm (the same rm that carried out the internal wiring) can do the external works. However, even if such a rm carried out the external works, that would occur under the supervision of the utility. 5 Obtain meter installation and nal connection from PEDEEE 15 calendar days SYP 0 Agency : Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) Page 17   After the external works are completed, a separate department of the utility works. However, even if such a rm carried out the external works, that Doing would under the occur2018 Business Arab of supervision Syrian the utility. Republic 5 Obtain meter installation and nal connection from PEDEEE 15 calendar days SYP 0 Agency : Public Establishment for Distribution and Exploitation of Electrical Energy (PEDEEE) After the external works are completed, a separate department of the utility turns the electricity on. Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Details – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 0 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) .. System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) .. What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI N/A Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? No Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? No Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://www.pete.gov. sy/index.php?d=55 Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Registering Property Page 18   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Getting Electricity in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index (0-8) 0 Total duration and frequency of outages per customer a year (0-3) 0 System average interruption duration index (SAIDI) .. System average interruption frequency index (SAIFI) .. What is the minimum outage time (in minutes) that the utility considers for the calculation of SAIDI/SAIFI N/A Mechanisms for monitoring outages (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to monitor outages? No Mechanisms for restoring service (0-1) 0 Does the distribution utility use automated tools to restore service? No Regulatory monitoring (0-1) 1 Does a regulator—that is, an entity separate from the utility—monitor the utility’s performance on Yes reliability of supply? Financial deterrents aimed at limiting outages (0-1) 0 Does the utility either pay compensation to customers or face nes by the regulator (or both) if outages No exceed a certain cap? Communication of tari s and tari changes (0-1) 1 Are e ective tari s available online? Yes Link to the website, if available online http://www.pete.gov. sy/index.php?d=55 Are customers noti ed of a change in tari ahead of the billing cycle? Yes Note: If the duration and frequency of outages is 100 or less, the economy is eligible to score on the Reliability of supply and transparency of tari index. If the duration and frequency of outages is not available, or is over 100, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Page 19   If the minimum outage time considered for SAIDI/SAIFI is over 5 minutes, the economy is not eligible to score on the index. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Registering Property This topic examines the steps, time and cost involved in registering property, assuming a standardized case of an entrepreneur who wants to purchase land and a building that is already registered and free of title dispute. In addition, the topic also measures the quality of the land administration system in each economy. The quality of land administration index has ve dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Procedures to legally transfer title on immovable To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions property (number) about the parties to the transaction, the property and the procedures are used. Preregistration procedures (for example, checking for liens, notarizing sales agreement, The parties (buyer and seller): paying property transfer taxes) - Are limited liability companies (or the legal equivalent). Registration procedures in the economy's largest - Are located in the periurban area of the economy’s largest business city. business citya. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest Postregistration procedures (for example, filling business city. title with municipality) - Are 100% domestically and privately owned. Time required to complete each procedure - Have 50 employees each, all of whom are nationals. (calendar days) - Perform general commercial activities. Does not include time spent gathering information The property (fully owned by the seller): - Has a value of 50 times income per capita, which equals the sale price. Each procedure starts on a separate day - though - Is fully owned by the seller. procedures that can be fully completed online - Has no mortgages attached and has been under the same ownership for are an exception to this rule the past 10 years. Procedure is considered completed once final - Is registered in the land registry or cadastre, or both, and is free of title document is received disputes. No prior contact with officials - Is located in a periurban commercial zone, and no rezoning is required. Cost required to complete each procedure (% of - Consists of land and a building. The land area is 557.4 square meters property value) (6,000 square feet). A two-story warehouse of 929 square meters (10,000 square feet) is located on the land. The warehouse is 10 years old, is in Official costs only (such as administrative fees, good condition, has no heating system and complies with all safety duties and taxes). standards, building codes and legal requirements. The property, Value Added Tax, Capital Gains Tax and illicit consisting of land and building, will be transferred in its entirety. payments are excluded - Will not be subject to renovations or additional construction following the purchase. Quality of land administration index (0-30) - Has no trees, natural water sources, natural reserves or historical Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) monuments of any kind. Transparency of information index (0–6) - Will not be used for special purposes, and no special permits, such as for Geographic coverage index (0–8) residential use, industrial plants, waste storage or certain types of agricultural activities, are required. Land dispute resolution index (0–8) - Has no occupants, and no other party holds a legal interest in it. Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) Standard Property Transfer Property value SYP 23,818,507.20 City Covered Damascus Page 20   Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Standard Property Transfer Property value SYP 23,818,507.20 City Covered Damascus Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Procedures (number) 4 5.7 4.6 1.00 (4 Economies) Time (days) 48 30.3 22.3 1.00 (3 Economies) Cost (% of property value) 28.0 6.0 4.2 0.00 (5 Economies) Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 10.5 13.4 22.7 29.00 (Singapore) Figure – Registering Property in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 74.67: Turkey (Rank: 46) 66.40: Jordan (Rank: 72) 60.91: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 59.93: Lebanon (Rank: 102) 55.50: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 119) 46.88: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 155) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of registering property is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 30 40 25 Cost (% of property value) 20 30 Time (days) 15 20 10 10 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Page 21   Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for registering property. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost Time Cost 30 40 25 Cost (% of property value) 20 30 Time (days) 15 20 10 10 5 0 0 1 2 3 4 Procedures (number) * This symbol is shown beside procedure numbers that take place simultaneously with the previous procedure. Note: Online procedures account for 0.5 days in the total time calculation. For economies that have a di erent procedure list for men and women, the graph shows the time for women. For more information on methodology, see the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/methodology). For details on the procedures re ected here, see the summary below. Figure – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 25 22.5 21.5 20 16.0 Index score 15 13.4 10.5 10 7.0 5 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 File application at the Registration O ce 30 days USD 5 Agency : Property Registry, Real Estate Authority (‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫)ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬ The application for registration is led at the Registration O ce. It is possible that a lawyer prepares the contract for commercial properties, charging about USD 500-700. If the lawyer attends with the client to the Registration O ce, the client will be charged an additional USD 60-80 per hour. The lawyer will verify the rightful ownership of the property and check if the property has no encumbrances. Since August 2015, a security clearance is required for registering a transfer. The land registry submits the documents to the National Security Agency. Page 22   Once the security clearance is granted, the registry proceeds with the Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic – Procedure, Time and Cost No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs 1 File application at the Registration O ce 30 days USD 5 Agency : Property Registry, Real Estate Authority (‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫)ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬ The application for registration is led at the Registration O ce. It is possible that a lawyer prepares the contract for commercial properties, charging about USD 500-700. If the lawyer attends with the client to the Registration O ce, the client will be charged an additional USD 60-80 per hour. The lawyer will verify the rightful ownership of the property and check if the property has no encumbrances. Since August 2015, a security clearance is required for registering a transfer. The land registry submits the documents to the National Security Agency. Once the security clearance is granted, the registry proceeds with the transfer. 2 Obtain property tax clearance from the Ministry of Finance 3 days • 13% Transfer tax • Agency : Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance 0.8 % for the Stamp Duty • 9.867% of the The seller should obtain proof of payment on all taxes related to the property value for property from the Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance. The transfer Registration fees, • tax (20-35% of the property value) is paid at the Ministry of Finance, and it 3.795% of property takes up to one week to obtain the tax clearance due to the non- value for Local Tax computerized procedures. It is a common practice that parties sign two agreements. One is a non-disclosed agreement that shows the real value of the property. Usually, sellers do not pay the full amount of transfer tax. They pay only 5% and get a primary declaration from the Ministry of Finance, Tax Department, to transfer the title to the buyer who signs an undertaken that he will pay the outstanding amount to the Ministry of Finance. Note that the taxes are paid on the o cial value of the property, which may be as little as 1/50 of the market price of the property. However, in this case study, value is equal to selling price. 3 Payment of registration fees at the Ministry of Finance 1 day USD 190- 250 Agency : Ministry of Finance The transfer tax (USD 50), stamp duty (USD 10) and partial registration fees are included in this cost. The registration fees are paid at the Ministry of Finance, and depend on the value of the property. Payment receipts are then to be presented to the Registration O ce along with other documents in order to transfer the title of the deed. 4 Present payment receipts for the registration fee at the Registration 14 days USD 50 - 60 O ce and wait to obtain the title deed Agency : Property Registry, Real Estate Authority (‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫)ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬ The parties will present the payment receipts of the registration fee at the Registration O ce. The registration process continues and the o ce must approve the transfer and then it will issue the new title deed. The documentation shall include: payment receipts for registration fees (obtained in Procedure 3). Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Page 23   (obtained in Procedure 3). Takes Business Doing 2018 Syrian place simultaneously Arab Republic with previous procedure. Details – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 10.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 2.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? ‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫ ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬- Real estate authority In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Paper 0.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, No 0.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: ‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫ ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬- Real estate authority In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Paper 0.0 in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing No 0.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the Di erent 1.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases but or in separate databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 2.5 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Anyone who 1.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city? pays the o cial fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.dama scus.gov.sy/NR/e xeres/1EAB90D2- 1A76-487A-971F- 1D45BD264163.h tm Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, on public 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– boards and if so, how? Link for online access: Page 24   Takes place simultaneously with previous procedure. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Registering Property in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of the land administration index (0-30) 10.5 Reliability of infrastructure index (0-8) 2.0 What is the institution in charge of immovable property registration? ‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫ ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬- Real estate authority In what format are the majority of title or deed records kept in the largest business city Paper 0.0 —in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages, No 0.0 restrictions and the like)? Institution in charge of the plans showing legal boundaries in the largest business city: ‫ﺩﺍﺋﺮﺓ ﺍ ﻟﻤﺼﺎ ﻟﺢ‬ ‫ ﺍ ﻟﻌﻘﺎﺭﻳﺔ‬- Real estate authority In what format are the majority of maps of land plots kept in the largest business city— Paper 0.0 in a paper format or in a computerized format (scanned or fully digital)? Is there an electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing No 0.0 cadastral information (geographic information system)? Is the information recorded by the immovable property registration agency and the Di erent 1.0 cadastral or mapping agency kept in a single database, in di erent but linked databases databases but or in separate databases? linked Do the immovable property registration agency and cadastral or mapping agency use Yes 1.0 the same identi cation number for properties? Transparency of information index (0–6) 2.5 Who is able to obtain information on land ownership at the agency in charge of Anyone who 1.0 immovable property registration in the largest business city? pays the o cial fee Is the list of documents that are required to complete any type of property transaction Yes, online 0.5 made publicly available–and if so, how? Link for online access: http://www.dama scus.gov.sy/NR/e xeres/1EAB90D2- 1A76-487A-971F- 1D45BD264163.h tm Is the applicable fee schedule for any property transaction at the agency in charge of Yes, on public 0.5 immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– boards and if so, how? Link for online access: Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a Yes, in person 0.0 Page 25   immovable property registration in the largest business city made publicly available– boards and if Doing so, how? 2018 Business Syrian Arab Republic Link for online access: Does the agency in charge of immovable property registration commit to delivering a Yes, in person 0.0 legally binding document that proves property ownership within a speci c time frame– and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the agency in charge of immovable property registration? Contact information: Are there publicly available o cial statistics tracking the number of transactions at the No 0.0 immovable property registration agency? Number of property transfers in the largest business city in 2015: Who is able to consult maps of land plots in the largest business city? Anyone who 0.5 pays the o cial fee Is the applicable fee schedule for accessing maps of land plots made publicly available No 0.0 —and if so, how? Link for online access: No Does the cadastral or mapping agency commit to delivering an updated map within a Yes, in person 0.0 speci c time frame—and if so, how does it communicate the service standard? Link for online access: Is there a speci c and separate mechanism for ling complaints about a problem that No 0.0 occurred at the cadastral or mapping agency? Contact information: Geographic coverage index (0–8) 2.0 Are all privately held land plots in the economy formally registered at the immovable No 0.0 property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city formally registered at the Yes 2.0 immovable property registry? Are all privately held land plots in the economy mapped? No 0.0 Are all privately held land plots in the largest business city mapped? No 0.0 Land dispute resolution index (0–8) 4.0 Does the law require that all property sale transactions be registered at the immovable Yes 1.5 property registry to make them opposable to third parties? Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 guarantee? Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Page 26   Is the system of immovable property registration subject to a state or private Yes 0.5 guarantee? Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Is there a speci c compensation mechanism to cover for losses incurred by parties who No 0.0 engaged in good faith in a property transaction based on erroneous information certi ed by the immovable property registry? Does the legal system require a control of legality of the documents necessary for a Yes 0.5 property transaction (e.g., checking the compliance of contracts with requirements of the law)? If yes, who is responsible for checking the legality of the documents? Registrar. Does the legal system require veri cation of the identity of the parties to a property Yes 0.5 transaction? If yes, who is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties? Registrar. Is there a national database to verify the accuracy of identity documents? No 0.0 For a standard land dispute between two local businesses over tenure rights of a Civil Court property worth 50 times gross national income (GNI) per capita and located in the largest business city, what court would be in charge of the case in the rst instance? How long does it take on average to obtain a decision from the rst-instance court for Between 2 and 3 1.0 such a case (without appeal)? years Are there any statistics on the number of land disputes in the rst instance? No 0.0 Number of land disputes in the largest business city in 2015: Equal access to property rights index (-2–0) 0.0 Do unmarried men and unmarried women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Page 27   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Do married men and married women have equal ownership rights to property? Yes 0.0 Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Getting Credit This topic explores two sets of issues—the strength of credit reporting systems and the e ectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws in facilitating lending. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Strength of legal rights index (0–12) Doing Business assesses the sharing of credit information and the legal rights of borrowers and lenders with respect to secured transactions Rights of borrowers and lenders through through 2 sets of indicators. The depth of credit information index collateral laws (0-10) measures rules and practices a ecting the coverage, scope and Protection of secured creditors’ rights through accessibility of credit information available through a credit registry or a bankruptcy laws (0-2) credit bureau. The strength of legal rights index measures the degree to Depth of credit information index (0–8) which collateral and bankruptcy laws protect the rights of borrowers and lenders and thus facilitate lending. For each economy it is first determined Scope and accessibility of credit information whether a unitary secured transactions system exists. Then two case distributed by credit bureaus and credit scenarios, case A and case B, are used to determine how a nonpossessory registries (0-8) security interest is created, publicized and enforced according to the law. Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) Special emphasis is given to how the collateral registry operates (if Number of individuals and firms listed in largest registration of security interests is possible). The case scenarios involve a credit bureau as a percentage of adult population secured borrower, company ABC, and a secured lender, BizBank. Credit registry coverage (% of adults) In some economies the legal framework for secured transactions will allow Number of individuals and firms listed in credit only case A or case B (not both) to apply. Both cases examine the same set registry as a percentage of adult population of legal provisions relating to the use of movable collateral. Several assumptions about the secured borrower (ABC) and lender (BizBank) are used: - ABC is a domestic limited liability company (or its legal equivalent). - ABC has up to 50 employees. - ABC has its headquarters and only base of operations in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - Both ABC and BizBank are 100% domestically owned. The case scenarios also involve assumptions. In case A, as collateral for the loan, ABC grants BizBank a nonpossessory security interest in one category of movable assets, for example, its machinery or its inventory. ABC wants to keep both possession and ownership of the collateral. In economies where the law does not allow nonpossessory security interests in movable property, ABC and BizBank use a fiduciary transfer-of-title arrangement (or a similar substitute for nonpossessory security interests). In case B, ABC grants BizBank a business charge, enterprise charge, floating charge or any charge that gives BizBank a security interest over ABC’s combined movable assets (or as much of ABC’s movable assets as possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 1.7 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 2 4.8 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Page 28   Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 7.1 14.0 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) possible). ABC keeps ownership and possession of the assets. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 1.7 6.0 12.00 (4 Economies) Depth of credit information index (0-8) 2 4.8 6.6 8.00 (34 Economies) Credit registry coverage (% of adults) 7.1 14.0 18.3 100.00 (3 Economies) Credit bureau coverage (% of adults) 0.0 14.2 63.7 100.00 (23 Economies) Figure – Getting Credit in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 55.00: Turkey (Rank: 77) 50.00: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 90) 40.00: Lebanon (Rank: 122) 32.25: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 25.00: Jordan (Rank: 159) 15.00: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 173) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of getting credit is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for getting credit. These scores are the distance to frontier score for the sum of the strength of legal rights index and the depth of credit information index. Figure – Legal Rights in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies 4.5 4 4 3.5 3 Index score 2.5 2 2 2 1.7 1.5 1 1 0.5 0 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Legal Rights in Syrian Arab Republic Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Page 29   Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Legal Rights in Syrian Arab Republic Strength of legal rights index (0-12) 1 Does an integrated or uni ed legal framework for secured transactions that extends to the creation, publicity and No enforcement of functional equivalents to security interests in movable assets exist in the economy? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in a single category of movable assets, without No requiring a speci c description of collateral? Does the law allow businesses to grant a non possessory security right in substantially all of its assets, without requiring Yes a speci c description of collateral? May a security right extend to future or after-acquired assets, and does it extend automatically to the products, proceeds No or replacements of the original assets? Is a general description of debts and obligations permitted in collateral agreements; can all types of debts and No obligations be secured between parties; and can the collateral agreement include a maximum amount for which the assets are encumbered? Is a collateral registry in operation for both incorporated and non-incorporated entities, that is uni ed geographically No and by asset type, with an electronic database indexed by debtor's name? Does a notice-based collateral registry exist in which all functional equivalents can be registered? No Does a modern collateral registry exist in which registrations, amendments, cancellations and searches can be No performed online by any interested third party? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a debtor defaults outside an insolvency No procedure? Are secured creditors paid rst (i.e. before tax claims and employee claims) when a business is liquidated? No Are secured creditors subject to an automatic stay on enforcement when a debtor enters a court-supervised No reorganization procedure? Does the law protect secured creditors’ rights by providing clear grounds for relief from the stay and/or sets a time limit for it? Does the law allow parties to agree on out of court enforcement at the time a security interest is created? Does the law No allow the secured creditor to sell the collateral through public auction or private tender, as well as, for the secured creditor to keep the asset in satisfaction of the debt? Figure – Credit Information in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies 10 8 8 7 Index score 6 6 5 4.8 4 2 2 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Credit Information in Syrian Arab Republic Page 30   0 Syrian Arab Doing Business Egypt, Republic Syrian 2018 Arab Rep. Arab Republic Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Credit Information in Syrian Arab Republic Credit Credit Depth of credit information index (0-8) bureau registry Score Are data on both firms and individuals distributed? No Yes 1 Are both positive and negative credit data distributed? No No 0 Are data from retailers or utility companies - in addition to data from banks and financial institutions - No No 0 distributed? Are at least 2 years of historical data distributed? (Credit bureaus and registries that distribute more No No 0 than 10 years of negative data or erase data on defaults as soon as they are repaid obtain a score of 0 for this component.) Are data on loan amounts below 1% of income per capita distributed? No Yes 1 By law, do borrowers have the right to access their data in the credit bureau or credit registry? No No 0 Can banks and financial institutions access borrowers’ credit information online (for example, No No 0 through an online platform, a system-to-system connection or both)? Are bureau or registry credit scores offered as a value-added service to help banks and financial No No 0 institutions assess the creditworthiness of borrowers? Score ("yes" to either public bureau or private registry) 2 Note: An economy receives a score of 1 if there is a "yes" to either bureau or registry. If the credit bureau or registry is not operational or covers less than 5% of the adult population, the total score on the depth of credit information index is 0. Coverage Credit bureau Credit registry Number of individuals 0 698,376 Number of firms 0 89,346 Total 0 787,722 Percentage of adult population 0.0 7.1 Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple Page 31   transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Protecting Minority Investors This topic measures the strength of minority shareholder protections against misuse of corporate assets by directors for their personal gain as well as shareholder rights, governance safeguards and corporate transparency requirements that reduce the risk of abuse. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Extent of disclosure index (0–10): Review and To make the data comparable across economies, a case study uses several approval requirements for related-party assumptions about the business and the transaction. transactions; Disclosure requirements for related-party transactions The business (Buyer): Extent of director liability index (0–10): Ability of - Is a publicly traded corporation listed on the economy’s most important minority shareholders to sue and hold interested stock exchange. If the number of publicly traded companies listed on that directors liable for prejudicial related-party exchange is less than 10, or if there is no stock exchange in the economy, it transactions; Available legal remedies (damages, is assumed that Buyer is a large private company with multiple disgorgement of profits, fines, imprisonment, shareholders. rescission of the transaction) - Has a board of directors and a chief executive o cer (CEO) who may legally act on behalf of Buyer where permitted, even if this is not speci cally Ease of shareholder suits index (0–10): Access to required by law. internal corporate documents; Evidence - Has a supervisory board (applicable to economies with a two-tier board obtainable during trial and allocation of legal system) on which 60% of the shareholder-elected members have been expenses appointed by Mr. James, who is Buyer’s controlling shareholder and a Extent of conflict of interest regulation index member of Buyer’s board of directors. (0–10): Simple average of the extent of disclosure, - Has not adopted any bylaws or articles of association that di er from extent of director liability and ease of default minimum standards and does not follow any nonmandatory codes, shareholder indices principles, recommendations or guidelines relating to corporate Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10): governance. Shareholders’ rights and role in major corporate - Is a manufacturing company with its own distribution network. decisions Extent of ownership and control index (0-10): The transaction involves the following details: Governance safeguards protecting shareholders - Mr. James owns 60% of Buyer and elected two directors to Buyer’s ve- from undue board control and entrenchment member board. Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10): - Mr. James also owns 90% of Seller, a company that operates a chain of Corporate transparency on ownership stakes, retail hardware stores. Seller recently closed a large number of its stores. compensation, audits and financial prospects - Mr. James proposes that Buyer purchase Seller’s unused eet of trucks to expand Buyer’s distribution of its food products, a proposal to which Buyer Extent of shareholder governance index (0–10): agrees. The price is equal to 10% of Buyer’s assets and is higher than the Simple average of the extent of shareholders market value. rights, extent of ownership and control and - The proposed transaction is part of the company’s ordinary course of extent of corporate transparency indices business and is not outside the authority of the company. Strength of minority investor protection index - Buyer enters into the transaction. All required approvals are obtained, (0–10): Simple average of the extent of conflict of and all required disclosures made (that is, the transaction is not interest regulation and extent of shareholder fraudulent). governance indices - The transaction causes damages to Buyer. Shareholders sue Mr. James and the other parties that approved the transaction. Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 5 4.9 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 5.7 4.7 6.4 Page 32   9.00 (Kazakhstan) and the other parties that approved the transaction. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Extent of conflict of interest regulation index (0- 5 4.9 6.4 9.3 (New Zealand) 10) Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 5.7 4.7 6.4 9.00 (Kazakhstan) Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 71.67: Turkey (Rank: 20) 55.00: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 81) 53.33: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 89) 47.92: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 41.67: Lebanon (Rank: 138) 40.00: Jordan (Rank: 146) Note: The ranking of economies on the strength of minority investor protections is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for protecting minority investors. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the extent of con ict of interest regulation index and the extent of shareholder governance index. Figure – Protecting Minority Investors in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Syrian Arab Republic 6 5 7 5 6 3 Egypt, Arab Rep. 7 3 8 7 5 3 Jordan 7 4 4 5 2 2 Lebanon 5 1 9 1 4 5 Turkey 8 5 9 7 8 6 OECD high income 7.3 5.6 6.5 5.2 6.3 7.4 Middle East & North Africa 5.2 4.6 6.2 4.2 4.7 4 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Sub-Indicator Score Extent of corporate transparency index (0­10) Extent of director liability index (0­10) Extent of disclosure index (0­10) Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Page 33   Extent of ownership and control index (0­10) Extent of shareholder rights index (0­10) Ease of shareholder suits index (0­10) Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Protecting Minority Investors in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Extent of con ict of interest regulation index (0-10) 5 Extent of disclosure index (0-10) 7 Which corporate body is legally su cient to approve the Buyer-Seller transaction? (0-3) Shareholders 3.0 excluding interested parties Must an external body review the terms of the transaction before it takes place? (0-1) No 0.0 Must Mr. James disclose his con ict of interest to the board of directors? (0-2) Full disclosure of 2.0 all material facts Must Buyer disclose the transaction in published periodic lings (annual reports)? (0-2) Disclosure on 2.0 the transaction and on the con ict of interest Must Buyer immediately disclose the transaction to the public and/or shareholders? (0- No disclosure 0.0 2) obligation Extent of director liability index (0-10) 5 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital sue directly or derivatively Yes 1.0 for the damage the transaction caused to Buyer? (0-1) Can shareholders hold the interested director liable for the damage the transaction Liable if negligent 1.0 caused to Buyer? (0-2) Can shareholders hold the other directors liable for the damage the transaction caused Liable if negligent 1.0 to Buyer (0-2) Must Mr. James pay damages for the harm caused to Buyer upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Must Mr. James repay pro ts made from the transaction upon a successful claim by Yes 1.0 shareholders? (0-1) Is Mr. James disquali ed or ned and imprisoned upon a successful claim by No 0.0 shareholders? (0-1) Can a court void the transaction upon a successful claim by shareholders? (0-2) Only in case of 0.0 fraud or bad faith Ease of shareholder suits index (0-10) 3 Before suing can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital inspect the Yes 1.0 transaction documents? (0-1) Can the plainti obtain any documents from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) No 0.0 Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without Yes 1.0 identifying speci c ones? (0-1) Page 34   Can the Doing plainti 2018 Business obtain any documents Syrian Arab from the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-3) Republic No 0.0 Can the plainti request categories of documents from the defendant without Yes 1.0 identifying speci c ones? (0-1) Can the plainti directly question the defendant and witnesses at trial? (0-2) No 0.0 Is the level of proof required for civil suits lower than that of criminal cases? (0-1) No 0.0 Can shareholder plainti s recover their legal expenses from the company? (0-2) Yes if successful 1.0 Extent of shareholder governance index (0-10) 5.7 Extent of shareholder rights index (0-10) 6 Does the sale of 51% of Buyer's assets require shareholder approval? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 10% of Buyer's share capital call for a meeting of No 0.0 shareholders? Must Buyer obtain its shareholders’ approval every time it issues new shares? Yes 1.0 Do shareholders automatically receive preemption rights every time Buyer issues new Yes 1.0 shares? Must shareholders approve the election and dismissal of the external auditor? Yes 1.0 Are changes to the rights of a class of shares only possible if the holders of the a ected No 0.0 shares approve? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, does the sale of 51% of its assets require No 0.0 member approval? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 10% call for a Yes 1.0 meeting of members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must all members consent to add a new Yes 1.0 member? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a member rst o er to sell their Yes 1.0 interest to the existing members before they can sell to non-members? Extent of ownership and control index (0-10) 5 Is it forbidden to appoint the same individual as CEO and chair of the board of Yes 1.0 directors? Must the board of directors include independent and nonexecutive board members? No 0.0 Can shareholders remove members of the board of directors without cause before the Yes 1.0 end of their term? Must the board of directors include a separate audit committee exclusively comprising Yes 1.0 board members? Must a potential acquirer make a tender o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% No 0.0 of Buyer? Must Buyer pay declared dividends within a maximum period set by law? Yes 1.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve No 0.0 Page 35   Buyer pay declared MustBusiness Doing dividends 2018 Syrian within Arab a maximum period set by law? Republic Yes 1.0 Is a subsidiary prohibited from acquiring shares issued by its parent company? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer have a mechanism to resolve No 0.0 disagreements among members? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must a potential acquirer make a tender No 0.0 o er to all shareholders upon acquiring 50% of Buyer? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer distribute pro ts within a No 0.0 maximum period set by law? Extent of corporate transparency index (0-10) 6 Must Buyer disclose direct and indirect bene cial ownership stakes representing 5%? No 0.0 Must Buyer disclose information about board members’ primary employment and Yes 1.0 directorships in other companies? Must Buyer disclose the compensation of individual managers? Yes 1.0 Must a detailed notice of general meeting be sent 21 days before the meeting? No 0.0 Can shareholders representing 5% of Buyer’s share capital put items on the general No 0.0 meeting agenda? Must Buyer's annual nancial statements be audited by an external auditor? Yes 1.0 Must Buyer disclose its audit reports to the public? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must members meet at least once a year? Yes 1.0 Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, can members representing 5% put items on No 0.0 the meeting agenda? Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Total number of taxes and contributions paid, Page 36   and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply including consumption taxes (value added tax, Assuming that Buyer is a limited company, must Buyer's annual nancial statements be Yes 1.0 audited by an external auditor? Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Paying Taxes This topic records the taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-size company must pay or withhold in a given year, as well as measures the administrative burden in paying taxes and contributions. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed on June 30, 2017 covering for the Paying Taxes indicator calendar year 2016 (January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2016). Last year (Doing Business 2017) the scope of data collection was expanded to better understand the overall tax environment in an economy. The questionnaire was expanded to include new questions on post- ling processes: VAT refund and tax audit. The data shows where post ling processes and practices work e ciently and what drives the di erences in the overall tax compliance cost across economies. The new section covers both the legal framework and the administrative burden on businesses to comply with post ling processes. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Tax payments for a manufacturing company in Using a case scenario, Doing Business records taxes and mandatory 2016 (number per year adjusted for electronic and contributions a medium size company must pay in a year, and measures joint ling and payment) the administrative burden of paying taxes, contributions and dealing with post ling processes. Information is also compiled on frequency of ling Total number of taxes and contributions paid, and payments, time taken to comply with tax laws, time taken to comply including consumption taxes (value added tax, with the requirements of post ling processes and time waiting. sales tax or goods and service tax) Method and frequency of filing and payment To make data comparable across economies, several assumptions are used: Time required to comply with 3 major taxes - TaxpayerCo is a medium-size business that started operations on January (hours per year) 1, 2015. It produces ceramic flowerpots and sells them at retail. All taxes Collecting information, computing tax payable and contributions recorded are paid in the second year of operation Completing tax return, filing with agencies (calendar year 2016). Taxes and mandatory contributions are measured at all levels of government. Arranging payment or withholding Preparing separate tax accounting books, if The VAT refund process: required - In June 2016, TaxpayerCo. makes a large capital purchase: the value of the Total tax and contribution rate (% of pro t before machine is 65 times income per capita of the economy. Sales are equally all taxes) spread per month (1,050 times income per capita divided by 12) and cost of goods sold are equally expensed per month (875 times income per Profit or corporate income tax capita divided by 12). The machinery seller is registered for VAT and excess Social contributions, labor taxes paid by input VAT incurred in June will be fully recovered after four consecutive employer months if the VAT rate is the same for inputs, sales and the machine and Property and property transfer taxes the tax reporting period is every month. Input VAT will exceed Output VAT Dividend, capital gains, financial transactions in June 2016. taxes The corporate income tax audit process: Waste collection, vehicle, road and other taxes - An error in calculation of income tax liability (for example, use of incorrect Post ling Index tax depreciation rates, or incorrectly treating an expense as tax deductible) leads to an incorrect income tax return and a corporate income Time to comply with a VAT refund tax underpayment. TaxpayerCo. discovered the error and voluntarily Time to receive a VAT refund noti ed the tax authority. The value of the underpaid income tax liability is Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit 5% of the corporate income tax liability due. TaxpayerCo. submits corrected information after the deadline for submitting the annual tax Time to complete a corporate income tax audit return, but within the tax assessment period. Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 20 17.9 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Page 37   return, but within the tax assessment period. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Payments (number per year) 20 17.9 10.9 3 (Hong Kong SAR, China) Time (hours per year) 336 203.4 160.7 55 (Luxembourg) Total tax and contribution rate (% of profit) 42.7 32.6 40.1 18.47% (32 Economies) Postfiling index (0-100) 92.20 50.56 83.45 99.38 (Estonia) Figure – Paying Taxes in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 74.31: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 73.97: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 81) 72.40: Turkey (Rank: 88) 70.75: Jordan (Rank: 97) 68.21: Lebanon (Rank: 113) 50.67: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 167) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of paying taxes is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores on the ease of paying taxes. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the four component indicators – number of tax payments. time, total tax rate and post ling index – with a threshold and a nonlinear transformation applied to one of the component indicators, the total tax rate. The nonlinear distance to frontier for the total tax rate is equal to the distance to frontier for the total tax rate to the power of 0.8. The threshold is de ned as the total tax rate at the 15th percentile of the overall distribution for all years included in the analysis up to and including Doing Business 2015, which is 26.1%. All economies with a total tax rate below this threshold receive the same score as the economy at the threshold. Figure – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 92.20 90 80 70 Index score 60 50.00 50.56 50 40 34.69 26.62 27.48 30 20 10 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate (% of Notes on contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base profit) TTR Page 38   Corporate income tax 1 300 10-28% taxable 22.11 Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality 100 92.20 90 80 70 Index score 60 50.00 50.56 50 40 34.69 26.62 27.48 30 20 10 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic Total tax and Tax or mandatory Payments Notes on Time Statutory contribution rate (% of Notes on contribution (number) Payments (hours) tax rate Tax base profit) TTR Corporate income tax 1 300 10-28% taxable 22.11 profit Employer paid - Social 12 36 14.1% + gross 19.29 security contributions 3% salaries Municipality duties 0 jointly 4% corporate 0.88 income tax Interest tax 1 7.5% interest 0.19 income Motor vehicle 1 USD 50 0.06 registration tax to 200 Tax on insurance 1 3% insurance 0.06 contracts premium Cleanliness duties 1 USD 100 0.05 Environment duties 1 USD 30 0.01 Capital gains tax 1 10-28% capital 0.00 included in gains other taxes Employee paid - Social 0 jointly 7% gross 0.00 withheld security contributions salaries Stamp duty on contracts 1 0.4% contract 0.00 small value amount Totals 20 336 42.7 Details – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Page 39   Totals 20 336 42.7 Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic – Tax by Type Taxes by type Answer Profit tax (% of profit) 23.0 Labor tax and contributions (% of profit) 19.3 Other taxes (% of profit) 0.4 Details – Paying Taxes in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Post ling index (0-100) 92.20 VAT refunds Does VAT exist? No Does a VAT refund process exist per the case study? N/A Restrictions on VAT refund process N/A Percentage of cases exposed to a VAT audit (%) Not applicable Is there a mandatory carry forward period? No Time to comply with VAT refund (hours) No VAT No VAT Time to obtain a VAT refund (weeks) No VAT No VAT Corporate income tax audits Does corporate income tax exist? Yes Percentage of cases exposed to a corporate income tax audit (%) 0% - 24% Time to comply with a corporate income tax audit (hours) 10.0 84.4 Time to complete a corporate income tax audit (weeks) No tax audit per 100 case study scenario Notes: Names of taxes have been standardized. For instance income tax, pro t tax, tax on company's income are all named corporate income tax in this table. The hours for VAT include all the VAT and sales taxes applicable. The hours for Social Security include all the hours for labor taxes and mandatory contributions in general. The post ling index is the average of the scores on time to comply with VAT refund, time to obtain a VAT refund, time to comply with a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tari s) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border recent compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The mostPage 40   round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. a corporate income tax audit and time to complete a corporate income tax audit. N/A = Not applicable. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Trading across Borders Doing Business records the time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods. Doing Business measures the time and cost (excluding tari s) associated with three sets of procedures—documentary compliance, border compliance and domestic transport—within the overall process of exporting or importing a shipment of goods. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. Given the importance of trade digitalization, in Doing Business 2018, the Trading across Borders questionnaire included research questions on the availability and status of implementation of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Single Window (SW) systems. With this information, Doing Business built a comprehensive dataset on the adoption and level of sophistication of electronic platforms in 190 economies. These data are not used to compute the distance to frontier score or ranking of the ease of doing business. The new dataset on EDI and SW systems is available here. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Documentary compliance To make the data comparable across economies, a few assumptions are made about the traded goods and the transactions: Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents during transport, clearance, inspections and port Time: Time is measured in hours, and 1 day is 24 hours (for example, 22 or border handling in origin economy days are recorded as 22×24=528 hours). If customs clearance takes 7.5 Obtaining, preparing and submitting documents hours, the data are recorded as is. Alternatively, suppose documents are required by destination economy and any transit submitted to a customs agency at 8:00a.m., are processed overnight and economies can be picked up at 8:00a.m. the next day. The time for customs clearance Covers all documents required by law and in would be recorded as 24 hours because the actual procedure took 24 practice, including electronic submissions of hours. information Border compliance Cost: Insurance cost and informal payments for which no receipt is issued are excluded from the costs recorded. Costs are reported in U.S. dollars. Customs clearance and inspections Contributors are asked to convert local currency into U.S. dollars based on Inspections by other agencies (if applied to more the exchange rate prevailing on the day they answer the questionnaire. than 20% of shipments) Contributors are private sector experts in international trade logistics and Handling and inspections that take place at the are informed about exchange rates. economy’s port or border Assumptions of the case study: - For all 190 economies covered by Doing Domestic transport Business, it is assumed a shipment is in a warehouse in the largest Loading or unloading of the shipment at the business city of the exporting economy and travels to a warehouse in the warehouse or port/border largest business city of the importing economy. - It is assumed each Transport between warehouse and port/border economy imports 15 metric tons of containerized auto parts (HS 8708) Traffic delays and road police checks while from its natural import partner—the economy from which it imports the shipment is en route largest value (price times quantity) of auto parts. It is assumed each economy exports the product of its comparative advantage (de ned by the largest export value) to its natural export partner—the economy that is the largest purchaser of this product. Shipment value is assumed to be $50,000. - The mode of transport is the one most widely used for the chosen export or import product and the trading partner, as is the seaport, or land border crossing. - All electronic information submissions requested by any government agency in connection with the shipment are considered to be documents obtained, prepared and submitted during the export or import process. - A port or border is a place (seaport, airport or land border crossing) where merchandise can enter or leave an economy. - Relevant government agencies include customs, port authorities, road police, border guards, standardization agencies, ministries or departments of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other government authorities. Page 41   of agriculture or industry, national security agencies and any other Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic government authorities. Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Time to export: Border compliance (hours) 84 62.6 12.7 0 (17 Economies) Cost to export: Border compliance (USD) 1113 464.4 149.9 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to export: Documentary compliance 48 74.3 2.4 1.0 (25 Economies) (hours) Cost to export: Documentary compliance (USD) 725 243.6 35.4 0.00 (19 Economies) Time to import: Border compliance (hours) 141 112.3 8.7 0.00 (21 Economies) Cost to import: Border compliance (USD) 828 540.7 111.6 0.00 (27 Economies) Time to import: Documentary compliance 149 94.5 3.5 1.0 (30 Economies) (hours) Cost to import: Documentary compliance (USD) 742 266.2 25.6 0.00 (30 Economies) Figure – Trading across Borders in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 85.93: Jordan (Rank: 53) 79.71: Turkey (Rank: 71) 59.71: Lebanon (Rank: 140) 58.07: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 42.23: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 170) 29.83: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 176) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of trading across borders is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for trading across borders. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the time and cost for documentary compliance and border compliance to export and import (domestic transport is not used for calculating the ranking). Figure – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 160 1113 149 1200 141 140 1000 120 828 725 742 800 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 100 84 80 600 60 48 400 40 200 20 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Page 42   Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 160 1113 149 1200 141 140 1000 120 828 725 742 800 Time (hours) Cost (USD) 100 84 80 600 60 48 400 40 200 20 0 0 Export - Border Compliance Export - Documentary Compliance Import - Border Compliance Import - Documentary Compliance Details – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic Characteristics Export Import Product HS 08 : Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or HS 8708: Parts and accessories of motor melons vehicles Trade partner Egypt Iran, Islamic Rep. Border Lattakia port Lattakia port Distance (km) 341 341 Domestic transport time 7 6 (hours) Domestic transport cost 450 300 (USD) Details – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 14.5 175.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 27.5 50.0 Export: Port or border handling 84.0 887.5 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 93.3 311.1 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 141.3 516.7 Details – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic – Trade Documents Export Import Page 43   (USD) Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic – Components of Border Compliance Time to Complete Associated Costs (hours) (USD) Export: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 14.5 175.0 Export: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 27.5 50.0 Export: Port or border handling 84.0 887.5 Import: Clearance and inspections required by customs authorities 93.3 311.1 Import: Clearance and inspections required by agencies other than customs 0.0 0.0 Import: Port or border handling 141.3 516.7 Details – Trading across Borders in Syrian Arab Republic – Trade Documents Export Import Bill of lading Bill of lading Commercial invoice Commercial invoice Customs Export Declaration Packing list Packing list Certificate of origin Terminal handling receipt Import license Cargo release order Import declaration Declaration of origin SOLAS certificate Collection order Export license Certificate of conformity SOLAS certificate Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case Page 44   the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment SOLAS certificate Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Enforcing Contracts The enforcing contracts indicator measures the time and cost for resolving a commercial dispute through a local rst-instance court, and the quality of judicial processes index, evaluating whether each economy has adopted a series of good practices that promote quality and e ciency in the court system. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to enforce a contract through the The dispute in the case study involves the breach of a sales contract courts (calendar days) between 2 domestic businesses. The case study assumes that the court hears an expert on the quality of the goods in dispute. This distinguishes Time to file and serve the case the case from simple debt enforcement. Time for trial and to obtain the judgment To make the data comparable across economies, Doing Business uses Time to enforce the judgment several assumptions about the case: Cost required to enforce a contract through the - The dispute concerns a lawful transaction between two businesses (Seller courts (% of claim) and Buyer), both located in the economy’s largest business city. For 11 Attorney fees economies the data are also collected for the second largest business city. - The buyer orders custom-made goods, then fails to pay. Court fees - The value of the dispute is 200% of the income per capita or the Enforcement fees equivalent in local currency of USD 5,000, whichever is greater. Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) - The seller sues the buyer before the court with jurisdiction over commercial cases worth 200% of income per capita or $5,000. Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) - The seller requests a pretrial attachment to secure the claim. Case management (0-6) - The dispute on the quality of the goods requires an expert opinion. Court automation (0-4) - The judge decides in favor of the seller; there is no appeal. Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) - The seller enforces the judgment through a public sale of the buyer’s movable assets. Standardized Case Claim value SYP 1,485,000.00 Court name Damascus Civil Court of First Instance, First Section City Covered Damascus Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Time (days) 872 638.5 577.8 164.00 (Singapore) Cost (% of claim value) 29.3 24.4 21.5 9.00 (Iceland) Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 4.0 5.9 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 68.87: Turkey (Rank: 30) 54.21: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 53.71: Jordan (Rank: 118) Page 45   of judicial processes Quality Business Doing index (0-18) 2018 Syrian Arab Republic 4.0 5.9 11.0 15.50 (Australia) Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 68.87: Turkey (Rank: 30) 54.21: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 53.71: Jordan (Rank: 118) 49.85: Lebanon (Rank: 134) 42.75: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 160) 42.58: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 161) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of enforcing contracts is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for enforcing contracts. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for each of the component indicators. Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Syrian Arab Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 1200 35 31.2 30.8 1010 29.3 1000 30 Cost (% of claim value) 26.2 872 24.4 24.9 25 800 721 21.5 Time (days) 642 638.5 20 577.8 580 600 15 400 10 200 5 0 0 Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Middle East & OECD high income Syrian Arab Republic Turkey North Africa Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Syrian Arab Republic 2 0 2 Egypt, Arab Rep. 2 0 3.5 Jordan 3 2 0 2 Lebanon 1.5 0.5 0 4 Turkey 2 4 3.5 3.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 Middle East & North Africa 2.1 0.7 0.3 2.8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Page 46   14 Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Middle East & OECD high income Syrian Arab Republic Turkey North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Enforcing Contracts in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Syrian Arab Republic 2 0 2 Egypt, Arab Rep. 2 0 3.5 Jordan 3 2 0 2 Lebanon 1.5 0.5 0 4 Turkey 2 4 3.5 3.5 OECD high income 2.5 2.9 2 3.6 Middle East & North Africa 2.1 0.7 0.3 2.8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Alternative dispute resolution (0­3) Case management (0­6) Court automation (0­4) Court structure and proceedings (­1­5) Details – Enforcing Contracts in Syrian Arab Republic Indicator Time (days) 872 Filing and service 58 Trial and judgment 590 Enforcement of judgment 224 Cost (% of claim value) 29.3 Attorney fees 16.3 Court fees 4.5 Enforcement fees 8.5 Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 4.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 2.0 Case management (0-6) 0.0 Court automation (0-4) 0.0 Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.0 Details – Enforcing Contracts in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Page 47   Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.0 Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Enforcing Contracts in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Quality of judicial processes index (0-18) 4.0 Court structure and proceedings (-1-5) 2.0 1. Is there a court or division of a court dedicated solely to hearing commercial cases? No 0.0 2. Small claims court 1.5 2.a. Is there a small claims court or a fast-track procedure for small claims? Yes 2.b. If yes, is self-representation allowed? Yes 3. Is pretrial attachment available? Yes 1.0 4. Are new cases assigned randomly to judges? Yes, but manual 0.5 5. Does a woman's testimony carry the same evidentiary weight in court as a man's? No -1.0 Case management (0-6) 0.0 1. Time standards 0.0 1.a. Are there laws setting overall time standards for key court events in a civil case? No 1.b. If yes, are the time standards set for at least three court events? n.a. 1.c. Are these time standards respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 2. Adjournments 0.0 2.a. Does the law regulate the maximum number of adjournments that can be No granted? 2.b. Are adjournments limited to unforeseen and exceptional circumstances? No 2.c. If rules on adjournments exist, are they respected in more than 50% of cases? n.a. 3. Can two of the following four reports be generated about the competent court: (i) No 0.0 time to disposition report; (ii) clearance rate report; (iii) age of pending cases report; and (iv) single case progress report? 4. Is a pretrial conference among the case management techniques used before the No 0.0 competent court? 5. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by judges? 6. Are there any electronic case management tools in place within the competent court No 0.0 for use by lawyers? Court automation (0-4) 0.0 1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 the competent court? 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? Page 48   1. Can the initial complaint be led electronically through a dedicated platform within No 0.0 Businesscourt? the competent Doing 2018 Syrian Arab Republic 2. Is it possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims led before the No 0.0 competent court? 3. Can court fees be paid electronically within the competent court? No 0.0 4. Publication of judgments 0.0 4.a Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at all levels made available to the No general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? 4.b. Are judgments rendered in commercial cases at the appellate and supreme No court level made available to the general public through publication in o cial gazettes, in newspapers or on the internet or court website? Alternative dispute resolution (0-3) 2.0 1. Arbitration 1.5 1.a. Is domestic commercial arbitration governed by a consolidated law or Yes consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all its aspects? 1.b. Are there any commercial disputes—aside from those that deal with public No order or public policy—that cannot be submitted to arbitration? 1.c. Are valid arbitration clauses or agreements usually enforced by the courts? Yes 2. Mediation/Conciliation 0.5 2.a. Is voluntary mediation or conciliation available? Yes 2.b. Are mediation, conciliation or both governed by a consolidated law or No consolidated chapter or section of the applicable code of civil procedure encompassing substantially all their aspects? 2.c. Are there nancial incentives for parties to attempt mediation or conciliation (i.e., No if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Page 49   Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent if mediation or conciliation is successful, a refund of court ling fees, income tax credits or the like)? Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Resolving Insolvency Doing Business studies the time, cost and outcome of insolvency proceedings involving domestic legal entities. These variables are used to calculate the recovery rate, which is recorded as cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors through reorganization, liquidation or debt enforcement (foreclosure or receivership) proceedings. To determine the present value of the amount recovered by creditors, Doing Business uses the lending rates from the International Monetary Fund, supplemented with data from central banks and the Economist Intelligence Unit. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Time required to recover debt (years) To make the data on the time, cost and outcome comparable across economies, several assumptions about the business and the case are Measured in calendar years used: Appeals and requests for extension are included - A hotel located in the largest city (or cities) has 201 employees and 50 Cost required to recover debt (% of debtor’s estate) suppliers. The hotel experiences nancial di culties. Measured as percentage of estate value - The value of the hotel is 100% of the income per capita or the equivalent Court fees in local currency of USD 200,000, whichever is greater. - The hotel has a loan from a domestic bank, secured by a mortgage over Fees of insolvency administrators the hotel’s real estate. The hotel cannot pay back the loan, but makes Lawyers’ fees enough money to operate otherwise. Assessors’ and auctioneers’ fees In addition, Doing Business evaluates the adequacy and integrity of the Other related fees existing legal framework applicable to liquidation and reorganization Outcome proceedings through the strength of insolvency framework index. The index tests whether economies adopted internationally accepted good Whether business continues operating as a going practices in four areas: commencement of proceedings, management of concern or business assets are sold piecemeal debtor’s assets, reorganization proceedings and creditor participation. Recovery rate for creditors Measures the cents on the dollar recovered by secured creditors Outcome for the business (survival or not) determines the maximum value that can be recovered Official costs of the insolvency proceedings are deducted Depreciation of furniture is taken into account Present value of debt recovered Strength of insolvency framework index (0- 16) Sum of the scores of four component indices: Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) Management of debtor’s assets index (0-6) Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) Creditor participation index (0-4) Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 10.8 25.5 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 4.1 3.0 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Page 50   Cost (% of estate) 16.0 13.8 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Creditor participation index (0-4) Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Syrian Arab Middle East & OECD high Indicator Republic North Africa income Overall Best Performer Recovery rate (cents on the dollar) 10.8 25.5 71.2 93.1 (Norway) Time (years) 4.1 3.0 1.7 0.4 (Ireland) Cost (% of estate) 16.0 13.8 9.1 1.00 (Norway) Outcome (0 as piecemeal sale and 1 as going 0 .. .. .. concern) Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 5.0 5.4 12.1 15.00 (6 Economies) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Syria and comparator economies – Ranking and DTF DB 2018 Distance to Frontier (DTF) 0 100 38.89: Egypt, Arab Rep. (Rank: 115) 33.26: Turkey (Rank: 139) 30.53: Jordan (Rank: 146) 30.45: Regional Average (Middle East & North Africa) 29.42: Lebanon (Rank: 147) 21.44: Syrian Arab Republic (Rank: 163) Note: The ranking of economies on the ease of resolving insolvency is determined by sorting their distance to frontier scores for resolving insolvency. These scores are the simple average of the distance to frontier scores for the recovery rate and the strength of insolvency framework index. Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic – Time and Cost Time Cost 6 25 22.0 20.0 5.0 5 20 4.1 16.0 Cost (% of estate) Time (years) 4 15.0 14.5 13.8 15 3.0 3.0 3.0 3 2.5 9.1 10 2 1.7 5 1 0 0 Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Middle East & OECD high income Syrian Arab Republic Turkey North Africa Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Syrian Arab Republic 2 2 1 0 Page 51   Egypt, Arab Rep. 4 2 2 0 Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Middle East & OECD high income Syrian Arab Republic Turkey North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Measure of Quality the Syrian Arab Republic 2 2 1 0 Egypt, Arab Rep. 4 2 2 0 Jordan 2 2 1 0 Lebanon 2 2 0 Turkey 2 3 2 1 OECD high income 5.4 2.8 2.3 1.9 Middle East & North Africa 3.3 2.1 0.9 0.2 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Sub-Indicator Score Management of debtor's assets index (0­6) Commencement of proceedings index (0­3) Creditor participation index (0­4) Reorganization proceedings index (0­3) Figure – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic and comparator economies – Recovery Rate Recovery Rate (cents on the dollar) 35 31.4 30 27.7 25.8 25.5 25 20 15.3 15 10.8 10 5 0 Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Details – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding foreclosure BizBank will try to enforce its security interest in court. Outcome piecemeal sale At the end of the foreclosure proceedings, the assets pledged as security to BizBank will be sold and the company will be liquidated. Time (in years) 4.1 It takes around 4 years to complete foreclosure proceedings in Syria. Cost (% of 16.0 The costs associated with the case would amount to approximately 16% of the value of the estate) debtor's estate, which mainly include: Court fee 3%, attorney's Fee 10%, auctioneer Fee 2%, fees of Accountants and other Professionals 1%. Under Article 465 of the Syrian Commercial Law, the judge has a discretionary power to set the court and auctioneers fees. Recovery rate (cents on the 10.8 Page 52   dollar) Syrian Arab Republic Egypt, Arab Rep. Jordan Lebanon Turkey Middle East & North Africa Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic Indicator Answer Explanation Proceeding foreclosure BizBank will try to enforce its security interest in court. Outcome piecemeal sale At the end of the foreclosure proceedings, the assets pledged as security to BizBank will be sold and the company will be liquidated. Time (in years) 4.1 It takes around 4 years to complete foreclosure proceedings in Syria. Cost (% of 16.0 The costs associated with the case would amount to approximately 16% of the value of the estate) debtor's estate, which mainly include: Court fee 3%, attorney's Fee 10%, auctioneer Fee 2%, fees of Accountants and other Professionals 1%. Under Article 465 of the Syrian Commercial Law, the judge has a discretionary power to set the court and auctioneers fees. Recovery rate (cents on the 10.8 dollar) Details – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 5.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.0 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (b) Debtor may 0.5 proceedings? le for liquidation only Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may le for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable to pay its debts as they mature Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 2.0 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential No 0.0 goods and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome No 0.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit No 0.0 after commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (c) No priority is 0.0 assigned to post- Page 53   dollar) Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Resolving Insolvency in Syrian Arab Republic – Measure of Quality Answer Score Strength of insolvency framework index (0-16) 5.0 Commencement of proceedings index (0-3) 2.0 What procedures are available to a DEBTOR when commencing insolvency (b) Debtor may 0.5 proceedings? le for liquidation only Does the insolvency framework allow a CREDITOR to le for insolvency of the debtor? (b) Yes, but a 0.5 creditor may le for liquidation only What basis for commencement of the insolvency proceedings is allowed under the (a) Debtor is 1.0 insolvency framework? generally unable to pay its debts as they mature Management of debtor's assets index (0-6) 2.0 Does the insolvency framework allow the continuation of contracts supplying essential No 0.0 goods and services to the debtor? Does the insolvency framework allow the rejection by the debtor of overly burdensome No 0.0 contracts? Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of preferential transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework allow avoidance of undervalued transactions? Yes 1.0 Does the insolvency framework provide for the possibility of the debtor obtaining credit No 0.0 after commencement of insolvency proceedings? Does the insolvency framework assign priority to post-commencement credit? (c) No priority is 0.0 assigned to post- commencement creditors Reorganization proceedings index (0-3) 0.0 Which creditors vote on the proposed reorganization plan? N/A 0.0 Does the insolvency framework require that dissenting creditors in reorganization No 0.0 receive at least as much as what they would obtain in a liquidation? Are the creditors devided into classes for the purposes of voting on the reorganization No 0.0 plan, does each class vote separately and are creditors in the same class treated equally? Creditor participation index (0-4) 1.0 Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment of the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial No 0.0 assets of the debtor? Page 54   Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for selection or No 0.0 appointment Doing Business of the 2018insolvency Syrianrepresentative? Arab Republic Does the insolvency framework require approval by the creditors for sale of substantial No 0.0 assets of the debtor? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to request No 0.0 information from the insolvency representative? Does the insolvency framework provide that a creditor has the right to object to Yes 1.0 decisions accepting or rejecting creditors' claims? Note: Even if the economy’s legal framework includes provisions related to insolvency proceedings (liquidation or reorganization), the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity Page 55   leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave the economy receives 0 points for the strength of insolvency framework index, if time, cost and outcome indicators are recorded as “no practice”. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Labor Market Regulation Doing Business presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on these indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. Detailed data collected on labor market regulation are available on the Doing Business website (http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploretopics/labor-market-regulation). The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2017. See the methodology for more information. What the indicators measure Case study assumptions Hiring To make the data comparable across economies, several assumptions (i) whether xed-term contracts are prohibited for about the worker and the business are used. permanent tasks; (ii) maximum cumulative duration of xed-term contracts; (iii) length of the The worker: probationary period; (iv) minimum wage. - Is a cashier in a supermarket or grocery store, age 19, with one year of work experience. Working hours - Is a full-time employee. (i) maximum number of working days allowed per - Is not a member of the labor union, unless membership is mandatory. week; (ii) premiums for work: at night, on a weekly rest day and overtime; (iii) whether there are The business: restrictions on work at night, work on a weekly rest - Is a limited liability company (or the equivalent in the economy). day and for overtime work; (iv) whether nonpregnant - Operates a supermarket or grocery store in the economy’s largest and nonnursing women can work same night hours business city. For 11 economies the data are also collected for the second as men; (v) length of paid annual leave. largest business city. - Has 60 employees. Redundancy rules - Is subject to collective bargaining agreements if such agreements cover (i) whether redundancy can be basis for terminating more than 50% of the food retail sector and they apply even to rms that workers; (ii) whether employer needs to notify are not party to them. and/or get approval from third party to terminate 1 - Abides by every law and regulation but does not grant workers more redundant worker and a group of 9 redundant bene ts than those mandated by law, regulation or (if applicable) collective workers; (iii) whether law requires employer to bargaining agreements. reassign or retrain a worker before making worker redundant; (iv) whether priority rules apply for redundancies and reemployment. Redundancy cost (i) notice period for redundancy dismissal; (ii) severance payments due when terminating a redundant worker. Job quality (i) whether law mandates equal remuneration for work of equal value and nondiscrimination based on gender in hiring; (ii) whether law mandates paid or unpaid maternity leave; (iii) length of paid maternity leave; (iv) whether employees on maternity leave receive 100% of wages; (v) availability of ve fully paid days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Details – Labor Market Regulation in Syrian Arab Republic Answer Hiring Page 56   Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No days of sick leave a year; (vi) eligibility requirements for unemployment protection. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Details – Labor Market Regulation in Syrian Arab Republic Answer Hiring Fixed-term contracts prohibited for permanent tasks? No Maximum length of a single xed-term contract (months) 60.0 Maximum length of xed-term contracts, including renewals (months) 60.0 Minimum wage applicable to the worker assumed in the case study (US$/month) 35.2 Ratio of minimum wage to value added per worker 0.2 Maximum length of probationary period (months) 3.0 Working hours Standard workday 8.0 Maximum number of working days per week 6.0 Premium for night work (% of hourly pay) 0.0 Premium for work on weekly rest day (% of hourly pay) 100.0 Premium for overtime work (% of hourly pay) 37.5 Restrictions on night work? No Whether nonpregnant and nonnursing women can work the same night hours as men No Restrictions on weekly holiday? Yes Restrictions on overtime work? No Paid annual leave for a worker with 1 year of tenure (working days) 14.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 5 years of tenure (working days) 21.0 Paid annual leave for a worker with 10 years of tenure (working days) 30.0 Paid annual leave (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure, in working days) 21.7 Redundancy rules Dismissal due to redundancy allowed by law? Yes Third-party noti cation if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if one worker is dismissed? Yes Third-party noti cation if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Third-party approval if nine workers are dismissed? Yes Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Page 57   Third-party Doing approval Business 2018 if nine workers Syrian areRepublic Arab dismissed? Yes Retraining or reassignment obligation before redundancy? No Priority rules for redundancies? No Priority rules for reemployment? No Redundancy cost Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 8.7 Notice period for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 8.7 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 1 year of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 5 years of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal for a worker with 10 years of tenure 0.0 Severance pay for redundancy dismissal (average for workers with 1, 5 and 10 years of tenure) 0.0 Job quality Equal remuneration for work of equal value? No Gender nondiscrimination in hiring? No Paid or unpaid maternity leave mandated by law? Yes Minimum length of maternity leave (calendar days)? 120.0 Receive 100% of wages on maternity leave? Yes Five fully paid days of sick leave a year? No Unemployment protection after one year of employment? No Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Business Reforms in Syria In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Syria implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2017 Starting a Business: Syria made starting a business more di cult by increasing the time for company registration and more costly by increasing fees for post-registration procedures. Registering Property: Syria made registering property more complex by requiring a security clearance prior to transferring the property. Enforcing Contracts: Syria made enforcing contracts easier by adopting a new code of civil procedure. Page 58   DB2013 Minimum contribution period for unemployment protection (months)? n.a. Doing Business 2018 Syrian Arab Republic Business Reforms in Syria In the year ending June 1, 2017, 119 economies implemented 264 total reforms across the di erent areas measured by Doing Business. Doing Business has recorded more than 2,900 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business since 2004. Reforms inspired by Doing Business have been implemented by economies in all regions. The following are the reforms for Syria implemented since Doing Business 2008. = Doing Business reform making it easier to do business. = Change making it more di cult to do business. DB2017 Starting a Business: Syria made starting a business more di cult by increasing the time for company registration and more costly by increasing fees for post-registration procedures. Registering Property: Syria made registering property more complex by requiring a security clearance prior to transferring the property. Enforcing Contracts: Syria made enforcing contracts easier by adopting a new code of civil procedure. DB2013 Getting Credit: Syria improved access to credit information by establishing an online system for data exchange between all banks and micro nance institutions and the central bank’s credit registry. DB2011 Starting a Business: Syria eased business start-up by reducing the minimum capital requirement for limited liability companies by two-thirds. It also decentralized approval of the company memorandum. Getting Credit: Syria enhanced access to credit by eliminating the minimum threshold for loans included in the database, which expanded the coverage of individuals and rms to 2.8% of the adult population. Labor Market Regulation: Syria eliminated the severance payment obligation but increased the notice period applicable in case of redundancy dismissals. Implemented a 100% pay premium for weekly holiday work and decreased the total term limit of xed-term contracts. DB2010 Starting a Business: Syria made starting a business easier by reducing the paid-in minimum capital requirement and making standard incorporation forms available online. DB2009 Starting a Business: Syria reduced the time and number of procedures to start a business through a new company law and commercial code simplifying the registration process, ending the involvement of the court and lawyers in the process and further simplifying tax registration. Trading across Borders: The entry of private banks into the Syrian market led to faster issuance of letters of credit, making it easier to trade across borders. DB2008 Starting a Business: Syria made starting a business more di cult by enforcing the requirement for limited liability companies and joint stock companies to publish their memorandum of association in the o cial gazette and show proof of payment of the publishing fees. Paying Taxes: Syria made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate—and also made it easier for large businesses by setting up a large-taxpayer unit. Page 59   Paying Taxes: Syria made paying taxes less costly for companies by reducing the corporate income tax rate—and also made it easier Doing for 2018 by large businesses Business setting Arab Syrian up a large-taxpayer Republic unit. Page 60