(17 June 2014) – For all the talk about the potential of emerging markets, developed economies in North America, Western Europe and Asia remain the best places to do business, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s latest Business Environment Rankings (BER).
Singapore looks set to remain the world’s most investor-friendly location in 2014-18, retaining its number-one spot from the 2009-13 period. Switzerland and Hong Kong also defend their second and third place position. The remainder of the top ten is dominated by North America, Scandinavia and other developed Asian economies.
Eight EU countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Austria) appear in the top twenty.
While some eastern European countries fare relatively well in the global rankings (Estonia, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia), most countries remain in the lower half of the rankings.