Philippines is best country to invest in in 2018, says survey

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is the best country to invest in in 2018, according to a survey of more than 6,000 business decision makers, as it is expected to continue receiving foreign direct investments from powerhouse countries in the region such as China.

According to the US News & World Report, the Philippines has continued to perform well in attracting FDIs to its economy based on United Nations data despite the overall declining inflows of such investments in Southeast Asia as a whole.

"In years to come, the country is expected to receive more FDI from within the region from powerhouses like China that are looking to utilize available labor in developing nations," US News said.

In identifying the best nations to invest in, US News focused on the following attributes of a country: entrepreneurship, economic stability, favorable tax environment, innovation, skilled labor, technological expertise, dynamism and corruption.

It then used responses from 6,000 business decision makers from around the world to determine the ranking.

The Philippines, a country which has a young population of 103.3 million, registered a gross domestic product growth of 6.9 percent in 2016. Its total GDP stood at around $304.9 billion in the same year.

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte unveiled an ambitious infrastructure plan aimed at improving the country's aging roads, ports and airports.

A new taxation regime was introduced at the start of 2018 in an effort to raise funds that would finance its infrastructure and social services program.

The second-best country to invest in this year is Indonesia, which US News said is one of the most promising recipients of FDIs in Southeast Asia.

Number Three on the list is Poland, whose economy according to the World Bank would continue to be in a good shape despite the turbulence of Britain's exit from the European Union and the refugee crisis in Europe, US News said.

Completing the list of the five best countries to invest in in 2018 are Malaysia and Singapore.

US News said Malaysia, Number Four on the list, has a highly-skilled workforce and a pro-business government that makes it attractive for investments.

Singapore meanwhile positions itself as an intellectual hotbed, with educated citizens and intellectual property law, US News said.

"Various incentives are offered to businesses and individuals with plans of betterment, from land use optimization to technology innovation," according to US News.

Also included in the list of best countries to invest in are Australia (6), Spain (7), Thailand (8), India (9) and Oman (10).

US News also listed Czech Republic, Finland, Uruguay, Turkey, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Brazil, France and Chile as some of the best destinations of FDI this year.