Singapore tops 'the most attractive places to do business' chart, Hong Kong at 9th

Singapore, Denmark and the US will be the three geographies with the best business environment over the next five years, according to the latest EIU business environment index announced Thursday.

Hong Kong slid down two places in the rankings for 2024-2028 after its score decreased by 0.01 points to 8.24.

Several West European economies - Germany (placed 4th on the index), Switzerland (5), Sweden (7), Finland (10) -  alongside Canada (6), New Zealand (8), make up the remaining top 10 best places in the world to do business.

The report said these places are all advanced economies and long-standing strong performers in the index, so tend to be safe bets for investments.

It also noted that Greece, Argentina and India are among the countries with a fast-improving business environment, with Greece seeing the biggest improvement in the business environment in our index over this period. 

“This reflects the impact of a pro-business government, led by the New Democracy party, now in its second term, that has undertaken reforms, cut taxes and boosted business confidence,” the report read.

As for India, the report said its youthful demographic profile promises both strong demand and good labor availability.

“Alongside solid economic fundamentals, digital infrastructure and favorable demographics, more policy support is being introduced to attract manufacturing investment,” it added.

Separately, Argentina’s sharp improvement in score largely reflects the free-market reforms that EIU believes the administration of President Javier Milei will introduce - in particular, policies to boost private enterprise and competition and attract foreign investment.