Georgia Ranks 18th among Best European Countries for Business 2020

Georgia has taken 18th place in the list of the best European Countries for Doing Business in 2020, the latest report of the European Chamber (EuCham) reads.

The annual report includes 46 countries and is based on the average of two indicators: the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) score of the World Bank (WB) and the Corruption Perception Index score of Transparency International (TI).

Despite the position in the Top 20 countries with the best business opportunities, Georgia’s score this year, 70, is a worsened indicator compared to the 2019 ranking, where Georgia had 71 points and was in 16th place.

However, Georgia has kept its position as leader in the region with its economic environment. According to the report, Armenia takes 33rd place with 58 points, followed by Turkey in 35rd place and 58 points. Azerbaijan is ranked 41st with 53 points, and Russia showed the lowest rank in the region at 43rd with 53 points in total.

Georgia left behind such countries as Portugal (19th place), Latvia (21st), Poland (67th), Italy (63rd), Belarus (29th), Hungary (31st), Greece (34th), Kazakhstan (39th) and Ukraine (50th).

An economy’s score in the report is reflected on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest performance and 100 represents the best.

The EuCham score also measures the overall business context constituted by corporate environment, legislation, government policies, social climate, and conditions which enable or prevent private sector activities from starting, operating and expanding, both in the short and long term.

The score used for the ranking is the average of the EoDB and the CPI scores (50% weight each). A high score indicates the country is favorable to do business in, while low scores refer to the least favorable countries for business.

The EoDB score by the World Bank measures the gap between the country’s own economic policies and regulations, and the best practice on each indicator across all economies. The difference is shown on a scale from 0, representing the lowest possible performance, to 100, the highest currently attainable result according to the standards set out in the 2015 edition of the Doing Business report.

The CPI from Transparency International is used to determine how corrupt each country’s public sector is perceived to be, on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). A low score can be an indication of widespread bribery, lack of punishment for corruption, or a government not responding to social needs.

Denmark tops the 2020 ranking with a score of 86, followed by Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Switzerland, while Moldova, Russia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine showed the worst results.

EuCham says that, like in previous years, the Nordic countries are still dominant at the top of the Best European Countries for Business 2020.

It noted that this year Armenia stands out with its whopping 6 positions up, and with Spain, Montenegro, and Azerbaijan, it moved the most, while North Macedonia slipped down the most, by 5 positions.

“Regarding the score, the highest level of improvement is shown by Armenia and Kazakhstan. France, North Macedonia, and Albania have the most significant negative variation,” the report reads.

The European Chamber is an independent, non-governmental, privately-organized institution representing the interests of national and international companies doing business in Europe, improving the business environment they are active in.

To note, the Corruption Perception Index score of Transparency International 2019 reads that Georgia received a score of 56 and shares 44th place with Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, and Latvia. Last year, Georgia had two points more in the rating, where 100 points indicate the lowest level of perceived corruption while 0 – its highest level. The index states that a two-point change is considered statistically insignificant and that Georgia still ranks top in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region.

As for the WB rating, in the Doing Business (DB) 2020 report, Georgia took 7th place out of 190 countries, raking among the world’s top countries. Although, compared to the same report of last year, its score has worsened by one position, the overall score has improved.

In the WB report, Georgia has 83.7 points while in the 2019 report it had 83.28. In the ranking, Georgia is ahead of such countries as Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Lithuania.

By Tea Mariamidze

Image source: expat.com