Taiwan moved up one spot to third among 50 major countries and territories surveyed in the latest Profit Opportunity Recommendation report by U.S.-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence SA.
 
Finishing equal with Germany and Norway but behind Switzerland and Singapore in that order, Taiwan outpaced its Asian neighbors South Korea in seventh; Japan, 10th; and China, 15th.

Taiwan’s combined score of 68 earned it a second-best investment rating of 1B, indicating that conditions merit sustained commitment of equity. This was the same for Singapore, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and South Korea, with only Switzerland achieving the top 1A rating.

Of the three rankings comprising the combined score, Taiwan finished 13th in political risks globally. According to BERI, the country’s political ratings are stable and economic conditions are expected to improve under President Tsai Ing-wen’s leadership.
 
Concerning operations risk, Taiwan topped Asia and ranked sixth globally on par with Canada and trailing Switzerland, Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and U.S. in that order.
 
The report described the local banking industry as stable and strong, citing its 44.3 percent surge in gross profits in 2017. BERI also projected Taiwan’s real gross domestic product to increase by 2.7 percent this year on the strength of “healthy economic activity.”

In terms of remittance and repatriation risks, Taiwan continued to top the world, with BERI tipping the nation to retain its leadership position in the following four years. (SFC-E)