PH up by eight ranks in Best Countries for Business list

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MANILA – The Philippines went up by eight notches in Forbes’ Best Countries for Business List for 2014. From being in number 90, the country moved to number 82 out of 146 countries.

The countries that made it to the listing of Forbes were selected based on 11 indicators which include trade freedom, monetary freedom, property rights, innovation, technology, red tape, investor protection, corruption, personal freedom, tax burden, and stock market performance.

Moreover, the list also made use of reports from the following organizations: Heritage Foundation, World Economic Forum, Transparency International, Freedom House, World Bank, Central Intelligence Agency and Property Rights Alliance.

The country gained improvements in eight out of the 11 indicators, particularly in market performance wherein the Philippines moved to 13th spot from 63rd in 2013.

Compared with other countries in the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines is behind Singapore (8th), Malaysia (37th), Thailand (62nd) and Indonesia (77th). However, the country did better than Vietnam (111th), Cambodia (121st), Laos (130th) and Myanmar (143rd).

“Long term challenges include reforming governance and the judicial system, building infrastructure, improving regulatory predictability, and the ease of doing business, attracting higher levels of local and foreign investments,” said Forbes.