International Ranking

13th ranking among the 144 countries in Global Competitiveness Report, according to WEF
The 4th rank in overall investment environment in overall investment environment by BERI
The 7th rank in IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook
The 1st rank achieved in entrepreneurship in IMD report
The 16th most improved economy for Ease Doing Business.

International Rating

The International Monetary Fund released its 2012 economic report in April 18 forecasts Taiwan's gross domestic product will expand 3.6 percent this year and 4.7 percent in 2013. South Korea is expected to grow 3.5 percent in 2012 and 4.0 percent in 2013. Hong Kong is forecast to expand by 2.6 percent for 2012 and 4.2 percent next year, while Singapore is projected to see a 2.7 percent growth this year and a 3.9 percent in 2013. In overall, Asian countries are expected to maintain a mid-level growth and a "soft-landing" amid the global economic crisis. It forecast 6 percent growth in Asia for 2012 and 6.5 percent for 2013.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) released its Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 on Sep. 5, 2012. Taiwan retained its 13th ranking among the 144 countries/economies and ranked 4th among all Asian economies covered in the report.

Although Taiwan's ranking remained unchanged, its overall score has continued to climb. Furthermore, Taiwan managed to remain within the world's top 10 percent, indicating its competitiveness remains solid amid signs of a slowdown in the global economic recovery.

Among the 111 indicators employed by the WEF in its assessment, Taiwan made the top 10 in 26 categories, five more than last year's performance. These include change in annual inflation and cluster development, both No.1, intensity of local competition, No.3, and company R&D spending, No.10. Among the remaining 16 top 10 indices, the greatest improvements came in "burden of government regulation," where the country moved up 20 spots to 10th, and "number of procedures required to start a business," in which it improved 26 places to 8th. This goes to show that the government's efforts to promote deregulation, enhance administrative efficiency and provide a more business-friendly environment have already garnered results

According to the latest report of the U.S.-based Business Environment Risk Intelligence S.A in December 2012, Taiwan is 4th worldwide for "Profit Opportunity Recommendation" with a score of 72 points, only behind Singapore, Switzerland, and Norway. In Asia, Taiwan remained the second-best investment place after Singapore, according to the report.

In the assessment, Taiwan got an overall "1B" rating among the surveyed economies, which means the nation has a favorable investment environment. The BERI suggested that investors continue investing in Taiwan and cited the nation's initiative to strengthen foreign economic and trade relations, especially focusing on signing more free trade agreements with other countries. Moreover, cross-Strait relations are expected to remain stable over the next two years. Taiwan's investment environment score in 2013 is expected to rise to a score of 73, while in 2017 it is expected to move up to a score of 75.

In the operational risk category, Taiwan ranked the second, (remain the same as the previous assessment), behind only Singapore. BERI pointed out that Taiwan will continue to push ahead with its infrastructure projects in the coming two years and promote the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to attract the private funds to invest in public infrastructure. BERI found that Taiwan has low-risk operating conditions and forecasted Taiwan's operations risk would rank 2nd in 2013 and 2017.

In the political risk category, Taiwan ranked eighth in the world (seventh in the last assessment), behind Singapore, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Finland, Australia, and Germany and second in Asia. The BERI concluded the nation was stable and low risk. Moreover, cross-Strait relations remain at a healthy level and the Taiwan-Japan fishery talks would resume in the near future. BERI predicted that the nation's political risk would rank the 6th lowest in 2013 and 2017.

Moreover, Taiwan's foreign exchange risk was ranked the fourth-lowest in the world, behind only Netherlands, Switzerland, and Singapore. BERI predicted that Taiwan's monetary policy holds steady and foreign exchange risk reduces. It estimated Taiwan would enjoy a trade surplus of US$30.33 billion and a current account surplus of US$43.76 billion in 2012, up from US$28.78 billion and US$40.77 billion a year ago respectively, while total foreign investment in 2012 was expected to reach US$10 billion according to the data in the first three quarters. BERI said that Taiwan would promote foreign investment by further easing related regulations. Moreover, BERI forecasted that the nation's foreign exchange risk would rank 4th in 2013 and 3rd in 2017.

According to the 2012 World Competitiveness Yearbook unveiled by IMD, Taiwan ranked 7th in terms of competitiveness among the 59 countries surveyed and was the 3rd place in Asia, next only to Hong Kong and Singapore. Of the four major indicators, the Taiwan government's efficiency ranked 5th among the 59 economies listed by the yearbook, up sharply from 10th place in 2011 and better performances in health and the environment, education, and scientific development pushed Taiwan to 12th from 16th in 2011 in terms of infrastructure. Besides, according to the IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012, Taiwan scored 7.67 in the entrepreneurship category on a scale of one to ten. That is, Taiwan has the world's best entrepreneurial society, up three places from last year and the best ranking the nation has received since 2001, indicating Taiwan's entrepreneurs has outstanding performance on coping ability while suffering from the financial crisis.

Taiwan was rated the world's 16th-easiest place to do business in a World Bank 2013 annual report released Oct 23rd 2012. Tenth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulations in 185 economies, the World Bank's "Doing Business 2013" report measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity -- starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and employing workers. Taiwan moved upward on two indicators -- dealing with construction permits and protecting investors. Taiwan made the most impressive progress in the category of dealing with construction permits, moving forward to 9th place from 87th.

For more information, please visit:

World Economic Outlook (WEO) by IMF
World Bank
Council For Economic Planning And Development
World Economic Forum (WEF)
Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BERI)
World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY)