TAIPEI, (Taiwan Today) – Taiwan has retained its fourth-place ranking among 50 countries and territories surveyed in the latest Profit Opportunity Recommendation report by US-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence SA.
Scoring 61 out of 100 in the triannual report, Taiwan finished behind only Switzerland, 70; Norway, 65; and South Korea, 62. It outperformed regional neighbours Singapore, 57; China, 55; Japan, 52; and Indonesia, 50.
Taiwan’s 1C ranking was assessed on the basis of its performance in three indexes: operations risk, political risk, and remittance and repatriation factor. Switzerland was the only country to earn the top 1A rating, while no economy received the second-best 1B rating.
The country’s standout results included first in remittance and repatriation and third in operations behind the US and Switzerland, in that order.
Of the 15 subindexes comprising operations, Taiwan placed first in short-term loans; second in communications/transportation, economic growth, long-term loans/venture capital, policy continuity and professional services/contracts; and third in currency exchange and labor cost/productivity.
Taiwan continued to lead the way in remittance and repatriation due to the country’s merchandise trade surplus of US$5.141 billion in June, up from US$4.984 billion the same month last year.
Of the four subindexes used to calculate remittance and repatriation, Taiwan was top in accumulated international reserves, foreign debt assessment, foreign exchange generation and legal framework.