The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been ranked first among Arab countries in the World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business for the year 2016" report.

The World Bank report, which measures the performance of 189 states in facilitating doing business for investors, says the UAE has advanced one step in the ranking from last year to occupy 31st rank globally this year.

Bahrain came second among the Arab countries with a global ranking of 65. Qatar was ranked 68, Oman 70, Saudi Arabia 82, Kuwait 101, Jordan 113 and Egypt 131 on the list.

Iran was ranked 118. India now ranks 130, moving up 12 places from last year, according to the World Bank report.

The UAE came among the first five countries in the world regarding non-payment of taxes, which does not affect business, process of construction permits and electricity delivery, said a Wam report.

At the regional level, the UAE topped the countries of the region and was among the top 10 countries in the number of documented improvements by the World Bank during one year in the delivery of electricity, processing of the construction permits, protecting investors and enforcement of contracts, it said.

The report also praised the four improvements carried out by the UAE.

The Ease of Doing Business report 2016 is one of the most periodic reports issued by the World Bank Group. This report is version 13 in a series of annual reports that measure the procedures and legislation which promote the trade activity and investment in the states.

It offers quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies.

The report also measures all actions of improvements and obstacles affecting 10 areas in business.

Reem bint Ibrahim Al-Hashemi, UAE Minister of State and chairperson of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority, said that the ease of doing business report includes a set of the most important global indicators that reflect the extent of interest and the interest of the Government of the UAE towards local and international investors.

Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, stressed the importance of investors and entrepreneurs, who are a growing category and one of the main pillars of effective economic planning. He added that the developed countries take into account the Ease of Doing Business when drawing the general development policies.