WELLINGTON, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand maintained top spot in the Doing Business 2019 report released by the World Bank on Thursday.

The report compares regulations affecting businesses in 190 economies, including settings for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, access to credit, trade, and protection of minority investors, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said.

New Zealand continues to have the most business-friendly environment in the world, Robertson said, adding this is "another real example of the strength of our underlying economic and business fundamentals."

The top three economies this year are New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark, according to the report which uses quantitative data in 2018.

Within the 10 topics used to determine New Zealand's score, the report showed improved sub-scores this year for ease of starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity and registering property.

"It's important that our regulatory settings are right. It's also important for governments to support businesses to grow," the minister said, adding the government has engaged with the business community and announced a number of growth-friendly policies aimed at driving more productive, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The policies announced to date include the 1-billion NZ-dollar (660-million-U.S. dollar) tax incentive for businesses engaging in R&D, the 1 billion NZ dollars per year of Provincial Growth Fund, and a series of reforms to support small and medium enterprises like e-invoicing, Robertson said.