POSTED AT 11:42 AM EDT Tuesday, August 14 Canada climbs because of business climate By ALLISON LAWLOR Globe and Mail Update Canada ranks as the fourth best place in the world to do business over the next five years in a survey released on Tuesday by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The survey determined that Canada will be a "very good" place to do business in the period between 2001 and 2005. Canada's ranking rose one spot from the fifth that it placed for the period between 1996 and 2000. The Netherlands is ranked first in the report published by the business arm of the Economist Group, publisher of The Economist magazine. The United States ranked second and Britain third. "The Netherlands scores particularly highly for its political environment, its policy toward foreign investment, its liberal foreign trade and exchange regime, and the availability of finance," the report said. Business environments in the world's 60 largest countries are ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit, based on such factors as policies toward foreign investment, trade laws and availability of skilled labour. Hong Kong, which ranked as the third best place to do business between 1996 and 2000 is expected to drop to 10th place in the period between 2001 and 2005, in large part because of regulatory and political changes, the report says. Ranking after Canada among the top 10 countries are Switzerland, Ireland, Finland, Singapore, Sweden and Hong Kong. The biggest improvement in the business environment will be in eastern Europe but this is seen in part due to its weak starting point, the report said. Overall, the Economist Intelligence Unit expects the global business environment to improve over the next five years. "While our forecasts are for weak global growth in 2001 and 2002, the economic outlook for the next five years as a whole is reasonably bright," the report said. Economic uncertainties and turbulences in some countries are not likely to have lasting damage on business operating conditions, the report said. Deregulation, liberalization and globalization are expected to continue in most countries and will continue to benefit business environments. Recent protests at international meetings, including the G7 Summit in Genoa, Italy, are not expected to reverse this process, but they may slow the pace of globalization, the report concedes.
