~For Country Profile: Hungary ---- Monday, July 25, 2005
Hungary rises on list of attractive investment destinations
Hungary has moved up two steps compared to its previous position in the business environment rankings of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the British research and analysis firm.
The chart ranks countries most attractive as investment targets over the next four years. The EIU analyzed prospects for the corporate environment in 60 countries, based on 10 fundamental criteria, such as the political and institutional environment, macroeconomic stability, and regulations relating to private enterprise.
According to the ranking, Denmark may prove to be the most successful from investors' viewpoint in 2005-2009, pushing Canada -- the winner in 2000-2004 -- into second place.
The EIU notes an economic slowdown within the euro zone. Three smaller euro zone members appeared in the ranking's top ten business environments -- the Netherlands, Finland and Ireland. Meanwhile, larger euro zone members such as Germany, France and Italy fell far short of the best. Among developing markets, the British researchers still consider the East Asia region to be the most attractive overall.
The EIU forecasts a record improvement in Eastern Europe in terms of the corporate environment. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that Romania and Bulgaria - scheduled to join the EU in 2007 - have achieved the greatest improvement compared to their previous ranking. Romania jumped from 46 to 38, while Bulgaria climbed from 40 to 36.
Among Central Europe's new EU member states the Czech Republic took the lead, moving up five places to the 24th position, and followed closely by Hungary at 25th on the list, up from 27th place in the previous ranking. This puts Hungary ahead of countries such as South Korea (26), Japan (28) and China (41). Both Poland and Slovakia managed to climb three places up the chart, although they still remain in the 29th and 30th position, respectively.
Information provided by the Embassy of Hungry