The Best Countries To Do Business In (PHOTOS)

Like everything else last year, global trade fell -- by 12.5%, according to the World Trade Organization. In some countries, volumes sank as low as during the Great Depression.

But unlike during the 1930s, many countries reacted by opening up their economies, rather than increasing protectionist measures. This was one of the conclusions of the World Economic Forum's latest Global Enabling Trade Report 2010, which ranked 125 countries across nine pillars. Overall, Asian and Nordic countries performed the best once again. Developing nations, led by Vietnam, made the most headway in enabling foreign trade with better market access, more sophisticated customs processes and new infrastructure.

The United States, for its part, ranked 19th on the list, falling three spots from last year. Check out which 11 countries topped the ranking.

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11. Iceland

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Iceland's first-time inclusion in this report - thanks to newly available data - is already a good sign. Trade activity in is steadily increasing, and notably, this country of 300,000 was one of the few that reduced tariff rates on agricultural goods last year.

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Iceland's first-time inclusion in this report - thanks to newly available data - is already a good sign. Trade activity in is steadily increasing, and notably, this country of 300,000 was one of the few that reduced tariff rates on agricultural goods last year.

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Comments

[LisaCACO]

10:19 AM on 05/26/2010

O.M.G. isn't norway "socialist"!?!?!

[Nosybear]

04:58 PM on 05/25/2010

And.... I'm loving the Murkin Xcepshunalists commenting on this post. Keep it up, guys! Cheerleading and bashing news you don't like is really going to help us change things! Oh, don't forget to blame it on illegal immigrants and protectionism abroad, despite the fact we're spending nearly two billion dollars a day importing oil from countries we don't really like. Great job, guys, wave the flag and pound your chests as we lose ground to our competitors every day....

[Nosybear]

04:55 PM on 05/25/2010

Yep, predictable. Those OTHER countries have publicly funded elections. Here you actually have to BUY congress-critters to get the breaks you need because your business model can't keep you in business on its own. Here, suckling at the government teat to get your perks and bennies costs money, I mean, what's the going rate for a Senator these days? Baksheesh is expensive and has to be factored into the LRBP, not to mention it's not tax-deductible as a cost of doing business. So no wonder the US finished down in the mediocre section of the list - businesses in those OTHER countries aren't having to buy influence!

[kedikat]

09:27 AM on 05/24/2010

The yardsticks to measure these things are mere inches, in real economics.
These things are good for doing business, but not building or creating things.
Ease of shifting products around through countries with relaxed rules does little for the real economy of jobs and production. Consumers, who are also the producer base, are ultimately are the economy. Business keeps cutting the opportunity to make a wage producing, while still looking for more consumers. These middlemen countries methods to ease the paper work and overhead of business, do little to help.

[opprobrious]

12:02 AM on 05/24/2010

So how can Canada's tariff rates be uncompetetative given they're signators to NAFTA?

[opprobrious]

12:05 AM on 05/24/2010

Oh, I get it. Nevermind.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

12:15 AM on 05/27/2010

Talking to yourself is not a good sign, mental-health-wise.

[mamacat]

01:38 PM on 05/23/2010

So, America's policy of corporate welfare is not working as well as one might expect?

[guveqzero]

12:46 PM on 05/23/2010

This article is meaningless. Is it better to be at the top or bottom of the list? When business incentives clash with the interests of the local population, you have competition problems. When you force business values over the people, you have facism. Are these global policy organizations trying to tell where the large corporations should strike next?

[Jacques415]

08:54 PM on 05/23/2010

Thank you.

[jeremyemilio]

09:30 PM on 05/24/2010

Yep.

First hint? Iceland.

Seriously, though... ICELAND!

[zogg18]

12:38 AM on 05/23/2010

This report is has nothing to do with which countries are the best to business in. They are a report on which countries are the best to export too.

[kdallas999]

11:18 PM on 05/22/2010

Someone please wake up our politicians... WE NEED TO INVEST IN OUR COUNTRY!

It may be cool to cut government programs, but our underfunding and cutting has left us with impotent educational, workforce development, regulatory and financial systems.

It's a recipe for disaster.

[PresidentRobertBooth]

09:06 PM on 05/22/2010

So basically the best countries in the world to do business in are the ones that ignorant right wingers in America consider to be Marxist/Socialist/Godless gulags?

[mamacat]

01:39 PM on 05/23/2010

uh, yes.

[Dalpine]

12:40 AM on 05/27/2010

They are trying very hard to be Less socialist.

[RobinSeattle]

08:19 PM on 05/22/2010

Hmmm....

Almost all those countries have sky high taxes relative to the U.S. and socialized medicine, two things that were supposed to be inimical to doing business. How can that be? I mean, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity can't be wrong, can they?

Oh wait, I know what Beck's reaction to this list will be: it is basically a press release from a combination of the Masons, the Trilateral Commission and the Space Vampires putting out one world propaganda. Yeah, that has to be it. Thank God Glenn is looking out for us all.

[bethel1974]

05:26 PM on 05/22/2010

America is still the best place to do business to me (my opinion). You have a ready workforce, tremendous university system, no civil wars, a world class entertainment and arts society. If we as average americans start reducing personal debt and increase savings then and only then will the powers that be bring jobs back. Right now if the hottest thing comes out the american consumer buys it. We need to refrain so the hottest item is US made. The apple IPAD was made in Korea. Over 1 million sold. Imagine if those jobs were in the US.

[bethel1974]

05:21 PM on 05/22/2010

Until the U.S. transforms from this "service economy" ushered in by GWB, America will fall further down the list. When America was on top we was producers as well as innovators of products that the world wanted. The middle class and poverty level workers were getting paid fair wages and due to retirement and good business the middle class became wealthy and poverty level became the new middle class. Wall street and the rich powers that be decided to gut the middle class and take all the money. Can't have "Jed Clampett" move to Beverly Hills anymore. Now its back to square one because the rich powers that be did not realize how greedy their friends were and they gutted the upper class as well.

[samuel liu]

05:14 PM on 05/22/2010

hk is not a country

[hippie4ever]

04:24 PM on 05/22/2010

Isn't it pathetic? In this corporate-owned-and-driven society, where government serves at the pleasure of big business (look up the word, it begins with 'f' and has 7 letters), the USA still can't compete! It's all the stupidity, greed, shortsightedness. Even the world capitalists don't want to do business here, unless they're craven predators like BP -- they're always welcome.