Favourable country ranking entails tougher job for leaders

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Favourable country ranking entails tougher job for leaders

By The Nation

 

Thai people as a whole also have some work to do

 

Country rankings can sometimes be taken with a grain of salt, or so governments or nations that lose face often say. Positive ones, however, are always better with negative ones, and embattled Thailand can take heart from latest survey results coming out of the United States. For all that Thailand has been through, there are quite a few things to boast about thanks to a respected American rank-giver.

 

According to US News & World Report, which did a detailed and qualitative survey involving tens of thousands of people across the globe, Thailand took the number one spot for the second year in a row as the best country to start a business. Strong competition, however, is coming from a crop of both developed and developing neighbours. China has jumped up three places from last year to number two, whereas Indonesia and Vietnam broke into the Top Ten for the first time. 

 

The favourable rankings somehow reflect either high barriers of entry elsewhere, if not a total glut of business. Asia also has relatively low initial costs and more streamlined procedures to thank for the impressive rankings that are attractive to entrepreneurs. In 2014, more than a quarter of new business registrations occurred in East Asian and Pacific nations, according to the World Bank.

 

As for the “Best Countries” rankings, Thailand is in the 26th position, sandwiched by India (25th) and Russia (27th) and actually dropping from 21st place in 2016. Switzerland was the best country, followed by Canada and Germany.

 

The focus, though, should be on the “Best Country to start a business” category, which Thailand tops. There are a few things to consider, namely legal and digital infrastructures which require considerable improvement, national human resources and labour immigration. This ranking will undoubtedly add to the challenges and opportunities posed by the launching of the Asean Economic Community, meaning the Thai leaders’ task of striking a balance between foreign investment and the well-being of Thai citizens will get even harder.

 

Thailand’s closest rival in this category is China, followed by Malaysia, India and Indonesia respectively. Thailand’s favourable ranking was attributed largely to “low density” of new businesses, which gives room for hopeful entrepreneurs. Competition among the countries has revolved around streamlined initial costs and registration processes, with Malaysia getting specific mention of its use of digital technology for company registration.

 

One thing is certain: Thailand’s job landscape will feature more foreign players, both in the executive and labour segments. The country needs to be more efficient and transparent and weed out corruption that has plagued related processes. The use of technology has to be facilitated and promoted by the government, which also has to ensure that efforts to lure outside financial, management and labour resources do not hamper skill developments of Thai citizens.

 

Thailand’s political divide has interrupted economic progress, making any global economic downturn worse than normal. Tourism, for example, has taken several hard hits over the years due to violence spawned by power plays and ideological conflicts. There are few signs the situation will remarkably improve, but everyone concerned should keep in mind how ordinary lives have been disrupted by politics.

 

On a significant category, the quality of life, Thailand is ranked 29th, flanked by Malaysia on top and India underneath. Canada tops this category, followed by Sweden and Denmark, respectively. We may never really know if Thailand’s ranking would have been better and by how much had it not been for the chronic, sometimes violent political trouble. What we do know is this 

particular ranking is the responsibility of all Thai citizens, not just an individual.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/opinion/today_editorial/30315899

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-05-22

[darksidedog]

I fail to see how Thailand is the best place in the world to set up a business, especially if you are a foreign investor. The documentation and registration are horrendous and time consuming. You can only have 49% ownership and getting work permits for foreign staff is also time consuming and expensive, not to mention you must have 4 local staff as soon as you open the company, whether you need them or not. Add to that the problem of finding, intelligent and honest English speaking staff. I went through this process some years back, and it was an absolute nightmare. I add that in due course, we relocated it to China, as we were unable to find a single quality member of staff here, and we could not get visas for any of our Indian staff we wanted to come to help set it up. Number one? Number one place not to set up a business would to my mind be more accurate.

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand took the number one spot for the second year in a row as the best country to start a business.

To start a street food business?

[yellowboat]

Servicing Thailand from Cambodia has been far easier since 2014.  In Cambodia, you can hire who you please.  There are other drawbacks, but overall it is far easier.  Not sure how US News & World Report comes up with their determinations. 

[Bob12345]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

I fail to see how Thailand is the best place in the world to set up a business, especially if you are a foreign investor. The documentation and registration are horrendous and time consuming. You can only have 49% ownership and getting work permits for foreign staff is also time consuming and expensive, not to mention you must have 4 local staff as soon as you open the company, whether you need them or not. Add to that the problem of finding, intelligent and honest English speaking staff. I went through this process some years back, and it was an absolute nightmare. I add that in due course, we relocated it to China, as we were unable to find a single quality member of staff here, and we could not get visas for any of our Indian staff we wanted to come to help set it up. Number one? Number one place not to set up a business would to my mind be more accurate.

While all the problems you mention are real they do not apply to local businesses where no foreigners are working.

And that is what they look at I believe.

 

Bottom line is that the paperwork for Thais is quite simple and can be handled within days.

No rules to follow that cannot be solved by a slightly competend lawyer helping you.

No checks for safety, quality, etc. You just open shop and nobody bothers you until you step on the wrong toes.

[NCC1701A]

This article is not about being a foreigner starting a business in Thailand. It is very easy to start a business for Thais.

[Thechook]

1 hour ago, Dobredin Ghusputin said:

To start a street food business?

No street food is being closed down

[YetAnother]

37 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

This article is not about being a foreigner starting a business in Thailand. It is very easy to start a business for Thais.

has to be the case; i looked at starting a business here and it was a nogo

[mike324]

4 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I fail to see how Thailand is the best place in the world to set up a business, especially if you are a foreign investor. The documentation and registration are horrendous and time consuming. You can only have 49% ownership and getting work permits for foreign staff is also time consuming and expensive, not to mention you must have 4 local staff as soon as you open the company, whether you need them or not. Add to that the problem of finding, intelligent and honest English speaking staff. I went through this process some years back, and it was an absolute nightmare. I add that in due course, we relocated it to China, as we were unable to find a single quality member of staff here, and we could not get visas for any of our Indian staff we wanted to come to help set it up. Number one? Number one place not to set up a business would to my mind be more accurate.

Don't see how it says its the best place in the world. Its rank in the 20s which is pretty low. So definitely not a good place to set up a business. But if you talk about how easy it is to start up a business in Thailand, it is pretty easy due to the lax laws and enforcement.

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, yellowboat said:

Servicing Thailand from Cambodia has been far easier since 2014.  In Cambodia, you can hire who you please.  There are other drawbacks, but overall it is far easier.  Not sure how US News & World Report comes up with their determinations. 

I have an idea where they find them enough said. 

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand took the number one spot for the second year in a row as the best country to start a business.

I believe that's #1 for Asian countries. Not #1 in the world!

In Asia: #1 Thailand, #2 China, #3 Malaysia, #4 India, #5 Indonesia

In the World: #1 Switzerland, #2 Canada, #3 United Kingdom, #4 Germany, #5 Japan

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-start-a-business

 

[wakeupplease]

In the mind when starting a business where would you start it if you could

 

In a country where the weather is great all year round

 

Then after that its all down hill

 

Most businesses we saw start here closed in less than a year.

 

T's in business here have 2, 3, 4, businesses going trying to make ends meet, but still have only 24hrs in a day.

 

The biggest problem for many here is they just do not know what advertising and marketing is and rely on word of mouth, which once worked but now Technology is the only way.

[Srikcir]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

country to start a business

How about a ranking of countries best for sustaining a profitable business?

A nation having high business barriers to starting a business might otherwise be worth the effort.

[YetAnother]

thais are so desperate to overcome their insecurity and find anything exceptional about this place that they cherry pick;

how about the human development index ? T is number 93