Israel - best for business in the Middle East

Israel's business environment outlook has improved from 7.18 points in 2003-2007, to 7.85 points for 2008-2012
 
The Economist Intelligence Unit's business environment rankings which was published last week and which encompasses 82 countries ranks Denmark, Finland, and Singapore as the three top countries which will offer the best business environments in the five years from 2008-2012.
 
The latest survey saw Israel moving up to 22nd position from 25th in the survey for 2003-2007. The survey's authors note that Israel leads the Middle East. However, they add that the improvement in the Israeli business environment will continue to be hampered by the political outlook.
 
The Economist Intelligence Unit's business environment rankings model seeks to measure the attractiveness of a country's business environment and its key components. The assessment of the business environment—based on the opportunities for, and hindrances to, the conduct of business - enables each of the 82 countries covered to be ranked on its overall position and in each of ten categories on a global and a regional basis.
 
The model uses quantitative data, business surveys and expert assessments to measure the attractiveness of countries' business environments. The framework has been designed to reflect the main criteria used by companies to formulate their global business strategies and investment location decisions.
 
The overall scores (on a 1-10 scale) and rankings are based on scores for 91 indicators, grouped into ten categories of the business environment. The business rankings model examines ten separate criteria, covering the political environment, the macroeconomic environment, market opportunities, policy towards free enterprise and competition, policy towards foreign investment, foreign trade and exchange controls, taxes, financing, the labor market and infrastructure.
 
Israel's business environment outlook has improved from 7.18 points in 2003-2007, to 7.85 points for 2008-2012.
 
For the sake of comparison, Denmark, which came top, received a score of 8.76 points. Israel was not far behind France, which scored 8.03 points.