The Easiest Countries to Start-up a Business (51 to 100)

The ease of doing business index is an index created by the world bank. A high rank indicates simpler, better regulations for businesses and better law enforcement and property rights. The index is calculated based on laws and regulations, with the participation of thousands of government officials and worldwide independant consultants. Many factors are taken into account for defining a rank:

- Procedures, times, cost and capital required to start up a new business
- Dealing with permits in general, construction permits, procedures, time and cost
- Employment issues, ease of recruitment, labor cost and laws
- Registering property: procedures, time and cost
- Ease of getting banking facilities and credits
- Investors protection and law enforcement
- Tax rates
- Import and export facilities


RANKING:

51- Bulgaria
52- Botswana
53- Saint Lucia
54- Azerbaidjan
55- Tunisia
56- Romania
57- Oman
58- Rwanda
59- Kazakhstan
60- Vanuatu
61- Samoa
62- Fiji
63- Czech Republic
64- Antigua and Barbuda
65- Turkey
66- Montenegro 
67- Ghana
68- Belarus
69- Namibia
70- Poland
71- Tonga
72- Panama
73- Mongolia
74- Kuwait
75- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
76- Zambia
77- Bahamas
78- Vietnam
79- China
80- Italy
81- Jamaica
82- Albania
83- Pakistan
84- Croatia
85- Maldives
86- El Salvador
87- Saint Kitts and Nevis
88- Dominica
89- Serbia
90- Moldova 
91- Dominican Republic
92- Grenada
93- Kiribati
94- Egypt
95- Seychelles
96- Solomon Islands
97- Trinidad and Tobago 
98- Kenya
99- Belize
100- Guyana

The Easiest Countries to Start-up a Business (1 to 50)

The ease of doing business index is an index created by the world bank. A high rank indicates simpler, better regulations for businesses and better law enforcement and property rights. The index is calculated based on laws and regulations, with the participation of thousands of government officials and worldwide independent consultants. Many factors are taken into account for defining a rank:

- Procedures, times, cost and capital required to start up a new business
- Dealing with permits in general, construction permits, procedures, time and cost
- Employment issues, ease of recruitment, labor cost and laws
- Registering property: procedures, time and cost
- Ease of getting banking facilities and credits
- Investors protection and law enforcement
- Tax rates
- Import and export facilities


RANKING:

1- Singapore
2- Hong Kong
3- New Zealand
4- United Kingdom
5- United States
6- Denmark
7- Canada
8- Norway
9- Ireland
10- Australia
11- Saudi Arabia
12- Georgia
13- Finland
14- Sweden
15- Iceland
16- South Korea
17- Estonia
18- Japan
19- Thailand
20- Mauritius
21- Malaysia
22- Germany
23- Lithuania
24- Latvia
25- Belgium
26- France
27- Switzerland
28- Bahrain
29- Israel
30- Netherlands
31- Portugal
32- Austria
33- Taiwan
34- South Africa
35- Mexico
36- Peru
37- Cyprus
38- Macedonia
39- Colombia
40- United Arab Emirates
41- Slovakia
42- Slovenia
43- Chile
44- Kyrgyzstan
45- Luxembourg
46- Hungary
47- Puerto Rico
48- Armenia
49- Spain
50- Qatar

The strong ties between the USA and the KSA: is it love or reason?

The strategical relationship between the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia goes back to late 1940's, just after the end of world war II, upon the discovery of the oil in the KSA. Oil which is synonymous of energy and which (according to some analysts) was the main startegic reason behind the war of the pacific from 1941 to 1945. Establishing excellent relations with the new royal regime at that time in the KSA was of prime importance for the US.

In fact these bilateral relations grew relatively fast when US companies were commissioned to discover and extract the commodity from the Saudi soil. And for decades, companies like Halliburton, Schlumberger, Aramco and others had the absolute exclusivity to discover new oil fields in the Kingdom and to extract the black gold and to ship it.

With time, those ties evolved between the two nations and became deep enough to "re-invent" the Saudi economy, in fact the Saudi currency (riyal) became strictly tied to the US dollar in a fixed exchange rate; Most of the Saudi's government oil revenues (as well as the royal family's) were being invested in the US markets, experts believe that Saudi money invested in the US represents around 7% of the US market. Until recently, the Saudi armament program was exclusively provided by US firms like: Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Mcdonall Douglas; At last but not least Saudi Arabian Airlines flies Boeing aircrafts almost exclusively.

Politically and diplomatically both States were constantly in perfect harmony and the KSA was one of the major allies of the US. The State visit of a newly elected US president to the KSA became a ritual, while Saudi citizens are usually granted multiple visas to the US for undefinite periods. (unlike all other Arab countries)

The KSA became practically operating according to the american way, as everything was built, designed, commissioned according to US standards. The list is long: the building codes in Saudi are US codes, the design and technical specifications for infrastructure projects are conducted according to the US standards, the heavy and sophisticated equipments (power production, water treatment, new technologies) are designed, built and operated according to the US industry codes.

We also note that the US Universities became the preferential destinations for Saudi students. Most of the new Saudi generation that are highly educated have graduated from US Universities, in a need to discover the technology and know-how of what is being developped in their mother land.

According to such evidences, many analysts and observers argue that the "Americanization" of the Saudi society did not happen naturally as a result of the interaction between two populations sharing the same history or culture or background! Instead, it is the fruit of a strategical pact that ensures safe and continuous flows of oil into the biggest oil consumer in the world at preferential prices (much below markets), in return the biggest oil producer of the OPEC countries enjoys an unconditional support and backup from the US policies makers.

Is Egypt the new China of the Middle East?

Egypt, country of the Nile and one of the oldest civilizations in the world, has always been the epicentre of history, culture, and changes. On the verge of one of the most important changes in its recent history, the home of the pharaohs looks at a bright and promising future. In fact, Should the new Egyptian regime succeed in realizing a "real change" in the country, a lot of potential awaits to be unleashed out of the egyptian economy which has several strong foundations.

The availability of cheap labor, the cheapest in the region and probably one of the cheapest in the world, backed by a population of more than 80 million egyptian, with an average GDP per capita among the lowest in the world (around 5,000 USD per year), the active population will have no problem at all competing with any country in the region, if not in the world since the labor cost in countries like India or China is comparable to the one in Egypt.

The egyptian population has another important component: the middle class, which is highly educated and qualified in most cases, fluent in French and English, helping to make commercial and trading activity relatively easy with western counterparts, unlike many countries in the Far East where only the national language is spoken. Besides all, egyptian people are so funny and very humble. 

Geographically, Egypt is at the center of the Middle East at the proximity of one of the biggest oil producers in the world, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and is also very close to Europe, which makes import & export activities to the euro-zone and de facto to the industrialized nations very convenient and time-saving.

Strategically, the Suez canal insures the sea traffic between the Far East, India and Saudi Arabia to Europe and the United States. Therefore, the strategic dependance of Egypt on other States is much less than other countries when it comes to exercise normally its commercial activities.

The country possesses substantial proven reserves of natural gas and is one of the exporters of this commodity to several countries in the region. This would bring down dramatically the production costs for eventual manufacturing or industrial activities. 

The considerable amount of funds that are expected to be retrieved from the old regime will undoubtedly bring a considerable boost to the economy, in fact around 70 billion US dollars are estimated to be heading back for the Egyptian treasury in the near future, and that would represent a surplus of funds equivalent to the government's budget for two years. Such amounts could be used to upgrade the country's infrastructure which is necessary for the economy to flourish. 

Egypt has all the necessary elements to become a big economy, the biggest in the region. All the ingredients of the chinese model are available in abundance to the egyptian people who has done a lot so far, and still have a lot more to do in the near future.

The secret of the Swiss Franc

The Swiss Franc has been outperforming all other major currencies in the past weeks/months. The main reason behind this appreciation is mainly due to the intriguing country behind this currency (switzerland) which has been playing the role of "safe deposit" of the world for several decades. It is believed that more than 30% of the world's wealth is deposited at Swiss Banks, a country with only 6.5 million citizens but also with more than 500 operational banks and major financial institutions. The famous Swiss banking secrecy has largely contributed to such facts, in addition to Swiss banks which have recently proved to be "facilitators" for the opening and funding of big offshore accounts in Switzerland for non-Swiss citizens and residents. 

The Swiss banking secrecy is a Swiss law ratified by the Swiss parliament. It prohibits the disclosure of any information related to Swiss bank accounts, whether it is the identity of a client, the nature of an account, or the cash balance involved. The system is so strict that any lift of the banking secrecy on any Swiss account would require a judgment from a Swiss judge in a Swiss tribunal.

Recent Geopolitical events, especially in the Middle East and North Africa have also suggested that the US dollar has lost its status as the most important safe haven currency in times of crisis. In fact it has been depreciating against all major currencies and commodities, reaching all time highs against gold, silver, the Canadian dollar and the Swiss Franc.

It is true that a strong currency puts the Swiss economy in a better position to cope with rising inflation, mainly generated from high oil prices and commodities, but this appreciation of the Swiss Franc comes to a high price: the industry. In fact Mr. Amman the Swiss minister of the economy has reiterated on several occasions that measures will be taken to protect the Swiss industry which is going to see it's export prices rising phenomenonly in the coming months.

Whether it is good or bad for any country to have a strong currency, will remain a question of balance. What we have seen over the years suggests clearly that currency prices abide by a cyclical pattern where extreme prices are unlikely to be sustained for long.