Small business
A customer holds a can of cream of celery Campbell's Soup at a grocery store in Phoenix, Arizona, in this February 22, 2010 file photo. Reuters/Stringer

Denmark has won the honour of becoming the number one country in Forbes magazine's "Best Countries for Business," an annual ranking done on the basis of business friendliness.

Since 2008, Denmark had been in the top 10 positions of the Forbe's list. This year, it became the number one. "Denmark's business climate is extremely positive. It scored highly across the board, finishing in the top 25 in each of the 11 categories we considered with top five showings for personal freedom, technology and low corruption," Forbes commented.

The ranking measured many factors in grading 146 nations on the basis of 11 different indices such as property rights, innovation, taxes, technology, corruption, freedom including personal, trade and monetary, red tape, investor protection and stock market performance. The World Bank's Doing Business report was the basic guide for grading countries on the basis of barriers in taxes, investor protection and red tape.

US Down

The ranking by Forbes also revealed the constraints of the US, despite its financial clout, as it has been trailing behind many developed nations in terms of business climate with the gap only widening vis-a-vis other countries. In the latest list, the Best Countries for Business the US. ranks at 18th position.

The top 10 countries in 2014 are,

1. Denmark

2. Hong Kong

3. New Zealand

4. Ireland

5. Sweden

6. Canada

7. Norway

8. Singapore

9. Switzerland

10. Finland

Always Pro Business

Denmark has been adjudged special for its business climate that is extremely positive. "It scored highly across the board, finishing in top 25 in 11 categories with top five showings in personal freedom, technology and low corruption," stated Forbes. As a highly entrepreneurial country in the work, Denmark has a proactive government streamlining all startup processes. Only four procedures are required to start a new business that too at minimal costs. The regulatory climate is also one of the best. Forbes noted.

The major attraction of Denmark's pro-business climate is the flexible labour market known as "Flexisecurity," where companies can easily hire and fire workers without burden. Unemployed workers are also available for intern programmes. In short, Denmark offers one of the most productive workforces in Europe.

The Denmark model encourages economic efficiency, which allows employees to be in the job they are best suited for and employers also get the flexibility to change and reallocate resources in the workplace. One more interesting aspect of the ranking process was the 2013 topper Ireland's change in ranking. It now slipped into the fourth best country, yet getting ranked top of the pile in personal freedom, according to Irish Examiner.

(The writer can be contacted at kalyandelhi@gmail.com)