Page 49 - SAMENA Trends - January 2021

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Bahrain in Top 50 for Online Business Setup

When it comes to the best places for top countries in order are Switzerland, in this category. As of January 2020,
setting up an online business, the the Netherlands, the US, Norway, Sweden, the UAE was recorded as having 9.73
Kingdom of Bahrain does pretty well Singapore, Germany, Canada, Luxembourg. million social media users and Kuwait
considering the global completion. It ranks TOP PERFORMERS IN EACH CATEGORY 4.2 million.
38 out of 99 countries, according to Best In addition to top scorers, there are • Best for secure internet servers: As
Accounting Software, a global firm that countries that outshine others within each the only country in our study to exceed
reviews and rates financial software to category. 200,000 servers per one million people,
help organizations make more informed • Best for mobile internet speed: With Denmark is the clear winner here
purchases. The island nation has shown average speeds of 129.61 Mbps, the with over 277,000 per one million.
promising potential in moving up the list UAE enjoys mobile internet that’s over An impressive statistic, especially
thanks to a robust tech environment and 4 per cent faster than second-place considering the country’s small size.
supporting legal framework. E-commerce China. • Best for online purchases/paying bills
continues to grow year-on-year, with • Best for fixed broadband: Singapore is online: About 89 per cent of Norwegians
eMarketer forecasting global sales worth the only country to exceed 200 Mbps use the internet for online purchases
$6.542 trillion by 2023, accounting for 22 for its fixed broadband speeds, enjoying or paying bills, closely followed by 88
per cent of all retail sales (up from 14.1 average rates of 229.42 Mbps. This is per cent in fellow Nordic countries,
per cent in 2019). This means 2021 could almost 20 per cent faster than second- Denmark and Finland.
be the year to start your online business. place Romania (188.85 Mbps). • Best for Low Corporate Tax Rates: With
Best Accounting Software’s researchers • Best for fixed broadband subscriptions: corporate tax rates of 0 per cent, the
looked at 20 different categories across Thanks to over 45 per cent of the UAE and Bahrain offer clear benefits
99 countries. From GNI per capita and population having a fixed broadband for many businesses. It’s worth noting
corporate tax rates to the number of social connection, France takes the top spot that Bahrain has no taxes on income,
media, internet users, and co-worker here. In fact, all of the countries with sales, capital gains, or estates with the
spaces by each individual country, they subscription figures over 40 per cent exception of oil and gas trades. In the
analyzed a plethora of key areas. The of the population are located in Europe. UAE, each jurisdiction is able to levy
resulting data suggested the majority These include Switzerland, Denmark, corporate taxes of up to 55 per cent
of countries most suited to starting an the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, and on any business, but, in practice, it is
online business are located in Europe. Malta. mostly levied on foreign banks and
Joined by the US, Canada, and Singapore, • Best for internet users: Similar to social petroleum companies.
these countries provide an all-around media users, the UAE and Kuwait come • Best for GNI: Switzerland ranked the
great starting point for your next business out on top along with Bahrain, with 99 best for GNI per capita with a value
venture – but, the “perks” of these locations per cent of their population using the of $85,500 in 2019, $3,000 more than
tend to be met with a higher corporate tax internet. second-place Norway and almost
rate. Accordingly, Denmark turned out • Best for social media users: With 99 $85,000 more than bottom-placed
to be the best country in the world to set per cent of the population using social Uganda.
up an online business. Denmark enjoys a media, the UAE clinches the top spot • Best for Individuals with a finance
top score for secure internet servers (over again but it is also joined by Kuwait account: Every country within the top
277,000 per 1 million people) and share of
individuals with a finance account (99.92
per cent). It is also the cheapest of the top
10 to start a business (0.2 per cent based
on the GNI percentage). Denmark also
ranks second highest for how much of
the population use the internet for online
purchases/paying bills (88 per cent) and
is positioned near the top for total number
of internet users (98 per cent). The country
did, however, have the second-lowest
postal efficiency score in our top ten, has
a very low number of co-work spaces (32),
and received mid-range scores for mobile
internet speeds (66.68 Mbps), social
media user penetration (71 per cent), and
corporate tax rates (22 per cent). Other

49 JANUARY 2021