By Fiona Chan

SINGAPORE has been named the fourth best country in the world in which to do business, an achievement that could help pull the country out of its worst recession in history.

The annual ranking of business-friendly countries by financial magazine Forbes Asia saw Singapore jump four spots from last year, leapfrogging Britain, Sweden, Ireland and Finland. Singapore also kept its regional top-dog position as the economy with the best business conditions in the Asia-Pacific. New Zealand was fifth, Australia eighth and Hong Kong ninth.

Business-friendly economies like Singapore, which are able to attract entrepreneurs, investors and workers, are 'in a much better position than others to rebound' from the economic downturn that has gripped the world, Forbes said.

Its survey ranked 127 countries according to criteria such as taxes, red tape, investor protection, stock market performance, promotion of free trade and freedom of expression and organisation.

The only three countries ahead of Singapore in the rankings were Denmark, the United States and Canada.

To top it off, 17 Singapore-listed firms also made it to this year's Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's 2,000 biggest public firms, ranked by profits, assets, sales and market value. Last year, only 14 firms from Singapore were featured.

In fact, with the financial meltdown centred around the US and Europe, Asian firms featured more prominently on the list this year. A total of 681 from the region made the list, 61 more than last year.

But the US is still the single dominant nation with 551 firms represented - including list-topper General Electric - although this number is down by 47 from last year's. Japan, the clear leader in Asia, fielded 288 firms to the list, 29 more than last year. China, at No. 2, had 91 firms, an increase of 21 from that last year.

'It's not surprising that more Asian companies would be in the list this year,' said Mr Kevin Scully, executive chairman of independent equity research firm Net-

Research Asia. 'Asia is not the source of the economic problems we've been having, so their companies have probably fared better on a relative basis.'

The total turnover of all firms on the list was US$32 trillion (S$48 trillion), up 7.6 per cent from last year's - the smallest gain since the list started in 2004.

SingTel led the local pack on Forbes 2000 in 290th place, up from 360th last year. It was followed by list newcomer Wilmar International at 314th, and DBS Group at 337th, up from 358th last year. Other newcomers included Fraser & Neave and Singapore Press Holdings.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.