Business Digest

ECONOMY

Nations Make Changes Promoting Business

The World Bank said 131 nations adopted reforms that make it easier to do business in those countries, a potentially positive omen for job creation as the global economy begins to pull out of the worst downturn since the Great Depression, according to a report scheduled to be released Wednesday.

Low- and middle-income nations accounted for two-thirds of the reforms, according to the Bank's seventh "Doing Business" report, which covered 183 economies.

For the first time, a sub-Saharan African nation, Rwanda, led the world in reforms, in part by streamlining how to start a business and bolstering investor protections.

Economies that make it easier for businesses to get started tend to have improved success with creating jobs, report author Neil Gregory said. Singapore remained the top-ranked country for ease of doing business, followed by New Zealand, Hong Kong and the United States.

-- Annys Shin

ENERGY

First Solar to Install Major Plant in China

First Solar said it reached a preliminary agreement to install a giant 2 gigawatt solar power plant in China's Inner Mongolia region, a project that would dwarf any existing solar installation in the world. First Solar, a leading maker of photovoltaic cells, said it would begin building the first 30 megawatts next year with panels manufactured at its facilities in Malaysia.

The project wouldn't be completed until 2019. First Solar chief executive Michael Ahearn said the company would look for sites in China to set up a manufacturing plant.

The project will be built at the city of Ordos, which is planning a 12 gigawatt renewable energy park. "This still has to be executed," Ahearn said. "But it establishes a relationship . . . We're in lock step with their strategy. It's a first step."