Which Countries Are "Open For Business"?

APAC nations and regional economies score high in a ranking by the World Bank that assesses the ease of doing business around the world. Four out of the five top contenders in the 2020 edition - New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea - are from the region.

European and especially Scandinavian nations also had a strong showing, with Denmark in rank four and Norway and Sweden rounding off the top 10. The UK made it into rank 8, while Lithuania was in rank 11.

According to the makers of the report, places scoring high typically made good use of electronic and online systems for administrative tasks connected to business regulations. A high degree of transparency was also a common feature of those ranking highly as was the practice of allowing a viable business to continue operating during insolvency proceedings.

The time it takes to start a business varied starkly between countries. According to the report, it took almost six times longer to start a business in the places ranked in the bottom 50 than it took in those ranked in the top 20.