Wharton ranks Thailand world’s best place to start a business


The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has ranked Thailand the best place in the world to start a business for the third year in a row in the 2019 version of the annual Best Countries Report co-published this week with U.S. News and World Report and BAV Group consultancy.

Thailand also rose one place in the overall rankings to 26th Best Country in the world this year out of the 80 that the publishers ranked. The list examines nine broad categories and additional subcategories. The publishers say the list “is designed to help citizens, business leaders and policymakers better understand how their nations are perceived by the world at large.”

The Kingdom also finished 5th in Best Countries to Visit, 6th in Countries with Up and Coming Economies, 9th in Countries with the Richest Traditions, 9th in Best Countries to Travel Alone, and 10th in Most Business Friendly Countries. Those rankings are a testament to Thailand’s heritage, enduring success in tourism, and its passion and determination to rise as a competitive economy and in global business.

“As a growing number of businesses and people have the ability to choose where in the world to invest their time and money, it has become increasingly valuable to understand how a nation’s policies, politics and products affect its perceived standing in the world,” according to U.S News.

“Starting a business in Thailand takes about five days, according to the World Bank.

Although Thailand is proud to finish first, the rankings also illustrate the dynamism of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), the 10-member regional grouping of which Thailand is the chair country in 2019.

U.S. News said it surveyed thousands of business decision-makers to arrive at the Best Country to Start a Business rankings and examined five country attributes: affordable, bureaucratic, cheap manufacturing costs, connected to the rest of the world, and easy access to capital.

The Kingdom is ranked among the top affordable countries to business decision makers and the Thai Government strives to liberalize the economy and promote free trade and investment.

In general description of the Kingdom, the report wrote that “a substantial agriculture sector and competitive manufacturing industry have kept Thailand strong and growing with low poverty and unemployment rates. It is the world’s largest exporter of rice and a leader in textiles, tin and electronics. Western education and technology have been absorbed into a devout Buddhist society.”

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