Taiwan was ranked as the third-best investment destination, alongside South Korea, in the lastest report by the US-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence SA (BERI), the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
BERI also gave Taiwan the highest score for foreign exchange risk, making it the most secure nation in the world regarding foreign exchange.
The report showed Taiwan scored a profit opportunity recommendation (POR) — a gauge that BERI uses to evaluate a nation as an investment destination — of 62, up one point from 61 in its May and August reports.
Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
Taiwan retained its third-place ranking from the two earlier reports, although South Korea tied with it after improving from 60 in August and 58 in May.
Switzerland topped the latest list, with a POR of 68, followed by Norway, with a POR of 63. Finland and Singapore followed in fourth place with a POR of 56.
BERI uses three main indicators to assess investment risk: operating conditions (operations risk), political risk, and foreign exchange and external accounts position (remittance and repatriation factor) risk.
Taiwan scored 60 in operating conditions, placing it third; 46 in political risk, ranking it 14; and 80 in foreign exchange risk, putting it in first place.
The report projected that Taiwan’s POR would increase to 67 in 2025, allowing it to retain its third-place ranking alongside South Korea.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan scored 51 points, placing it 14th in the world; China scored 50, putting it in 16th place; Indonesia scored 48 to come in at 18th; the Philippines scored 44 for 23rd place; India scored 43, coming in at 24th; and Thailand scored 35 to place at 39th.
Fifty countries were included in the report, with Venezuela placing last with a POR of 20. The global average POR is 44.
BERI releases three reports each year, the ministry said.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
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