A recently published report by the World Bank places Sweden as the 9th easiest places to do business in out of 190 countries surveyed. The 2017 edition of the report, which is the 14th instalment of the annual study, appraises policies and regulations which boosts business activities in a country. Besides cost, other notable factors taken into consideration by foreign investors when assessing a country for investments include political and economic stability, risks, business policies, transparency, monetary and fiscal policies, bureaucracy, human capital, logistics, infrastructure and intellectual property protection.
In contrast to Sweden’s reputation for tricky bureaucracy, this year’s report shows it is becoming a more efficient place for business, with increased administrative efficiency highlighted, as well as praise for new automatic registration of mortgages and renewal of ownership.
The report ranks New Zealand as the best, Singapore as the second best and Denmark as the third best countries in the world for doing business. Overall the Nordic countries scored high with Norway as 6th and Finland as 13th.
