Taiwan Ranks 5th on BERI Investment List
The Ministry of Economic Affairs recently released an
announcement citing the results of the third 2009 “Investment Environment
Risk Assessment Report” by Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI),
ranking Taiwan 5th in the world in investment environment, the same as in the
previous report. The latest report gives Taiwan a Profit Opportunity
Recommendation (POR) rating of 1B, meaning that the island is suitable for
investment.
BERI issues its reports in April, August, and December each
year, giving its assessment of the operations, political, and foreign exchange
risk (termed “Remittance and Repatriation Factor”) for 50 countries. It
also provides a “Profit Opportunity Recommendation,” evaluating the level
of profit opportunity in each country from the perspective of a transnational
corporation, to serve as a basis for assessing the pros and cons of the
investment environment.
Taiwan ranked 5th in BERI’s Operations Risk Index, an
advancement of one place over the previous report. Although the island
suffered from recession and typhoon damage, the report noted, its government
had formulated a structural improvement strategy. The report estimated that
Taiwan’s real GDP would shrink by 4.1% in 2009, but predicted that it would
rebound strongly with a growth of 4.0% in 2010.
The BERI report pointed out that Taiwan’s Remittance and
Repatriation Factor was showing signs of improvement; from a ranking of 4th in
the world and 2nd in Asia at the end of 2009, the island was expected to
advance to 3rd place globally in 2010. The report noted that the merchandise
trade surplus for 2009 was projected at US$27.28 billion, up from US$18.27
billion the previous year, the current account surplus for 2009 was projected
at US$33.73 billion, up from US$24.32 billion during 2008, and was projected
to reach a similar level in 2010.
In the Political Risk Index Taiwan ranked 13th in the world,
down two places from the previous report (mainly because of the typhoon that
struck in August and an Executive Yuan, or Cabinet, reshuffle), and second in
Asia behind Singapore. BERI indicated that the island’s political risk had
come under control, with the governing party holding a majority of seats in the
parliament, and that relations with mainland China—especially in the economic
field—would remain amicable over the next two years. This would bring
political stability and, possibly, to Taiwan’s advancement to 12th place in
the Political Risk Index.
