Top countries to do business: Phl ahead of China, India

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines placed 87th among 141 countries in the Forbes’ Best Countries for Business List, beating China and India but still behind most of its Southeast Asian neighbors.

The Forbes’ list which ranks countries based on different factors such as trade freedom, monetary freedom, property rights, innovation, technology, red tape, investor protection, corruption, personal freedom, tax burden and market performance showed that the Philippines was a better place for business than China at 96th and India at 97th.

The list showed that Singapore was the fourth best country for business, while Malaysia was 31st.

The list also showed Thailand in the 67th spot and Indonesia on 76th.

The Philippines, meanwhile, was better positioned than Vietnam at 109th place and Cambodia at 112th.

The Philippine ranking was the same as last year during which 130 countries were in the list.

Out of 11 factors considered in the report, the Philippines’ ranking in five has dropped.

In terms of tax burden, the country’s position dropped 21 places to 110th. In terms of trade freedom, the Philippines saw its ranking fall by seven places to 86th this year.

The country also fell five places to 128th in terms of red tape, while it declined two places to 112th in terms of corruption.

In personal freedom, the Philippines placed 67th compared to last year’s 63rd.

The country, meanwhile, saw its ranking improve in monetary freedom to 61st spot from last year’s 62nd.

The country also improved in terms of innovation to 62nd spot from last year’s 69th.

In terms of investor protection, the country went up three places to 105th, while it jumped 11 notches to 4th place in terms of market performance.

The country’s ranking was unchanged for property rights (84th) and technology (77th).

The 10 best countries for business this year were New Zealand, Denmark, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and United Kingdom.

The countries at the bottom of this year’s list or those considered the worst for business were Cote d’Ivoire, Yemen, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Haiti, Cameroon, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Chad and Guinea.