Every year over USD 1 trillion is distributed worldwide in the form of foreign direct investment. Investments by foreign investors and entrepreneurs are of significant value to the country and are seen as a sign of a healthy economic, political and legal environment. When it comes to investing your money, some countries are just better than others. It depends on numerous factors such as the country's overall economy and growth prospects, political stability, taxation and the overall legal system, the complexity of starting a business, opening an account and the workforce.

In this article, we summarize three jurisdictions in terms of benefits and other features crucial to foreign investors. These countries have already proven their ability to attract multinationals and other investments, but when it comes to choosing the right place to invest, each country is different and might be better than others in one or more factors.

Singapore
The first country to be analyzed is Singapore, which ranks 2nd among the best countries for investment and 15th among the best countries in the world in the US News Best Countries Ranking developed in cooperation with its international partners .

Located in Southeast Asia, Singapore is a bustling metropolis and home to one of the busiest ports in the world. As one of Asia's four economic tigers, the country has experienced impressive growth in recent years thanks to efficient production and manufacturing processes and innovations in the pharmaceutical and electronics industries. High GDP per capita and low unemployment make Singapore one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Due to its impressive growth and increasing immigration, Singapore attracts the best professionals to its workforce. The country offers cultural diversity and, with four official languages, is an important gateway for international trade.
The corporate tax rate is 17%, but it can be lowered by taking advantage of numerous government subsidies, incentives, and other programs.
Singapore's legal system is known for its integrity, efficiency and fairness, making the country better than many as a place to start and operate a business. The World Bank Group has recognized Singapore's political and regulatory environment as the most business-friendly in the world.

Other factors:
Least Corrupt Country in Asia;
Best IP protection in Asia;
Most popular country for arbitration in Asia.

United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates or UAE is listed as the 22nd best country in the world and is not mentioned among the best countries for investment according to the above ranking.

Before the discovery of oil in the mid-20th century, the UAE's economy was mainly based on fishing and the pearling industry. The country experienced rapid growth and general transformation along with the start of oil exports in the 1960s. Today the country's GDP can be compared to that of leading European countries and the World Economic Forum has named the UAE the most competitive place in the Arab world.

When incorporating a company in the United Arab Emirates, foreign investors can choose between offshore or onshore registration, whichever is more suitable for the type of company and the activities planned. Onshore registration means that the investor establishes a business presence on the UAE mainland. Offshore registration usually refers to a business presence in one of the UAE's free trade zones.
The UAE does not levy corporate income tax at the federal level. However, most Emirates have some corporate income taxation and can even reach 55% for certain industries. In practice, corporate income tax is mainly levied on gas and oil companies and branches of foreign banks.
Other factors:
The UAE is among the most liberal places in the Gulf with a legal system that allows freedom of religion;
No sales tax or VAT but with plans to introduce it in the future;
In addition to traditional banking, Islamic (or Sharia-compliant) banking has seen tremendous growth in recent times.

Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. While Hong Kong is often considered a separate entity from China, it is not a country and therefore appears under the name of China in all lists and rankings. China ranks 26th among the best countries to invest in and 20th among the best countries in general.

Hong Kong's legal system is characterized by strict adherence to principles and the rule of law. It operates a free trade economic system and encourages minimal government intervention in most areas of the economy. This reflects the low number of tariffs and tariffs on traded goods, making it a better place to invest than other parts of China.
Foreign investment is attracted by promoting a favorable investment climate with low taxes, few restrictions and additional incentives to encourage investment. The corporate tax rate is 16.5% with the option to waive 75% of the tax. No tax is levied on dividends.
Company formation is a simple and quick process. All applications for company formation also include an application for the commercial register. The application can be submitted online and typically takes an hour to process (as opposed to four days if the application is submitted on paper).

Switzerland is world famous for its banks and blooming economy having a GDP higher than in most of the Western European countries. Also, the price of the Swiss franc (CHF) was quite stable in comparison to other currencies. In year 2009, the financial sector of Switzerland have contributed around 11.6% of total gross domestic product and employed almost 195,000 employees (136,000 of which are employed in the banking sector specifically), which is almost 6% of the overall Swiss labour force. In addition to that, Swiss banks employ roughly 103,000 employees in other countries.

Today roughly thirty three percent of total global funds are being kept outside of originating state (also known as offshore assets), which are kept in Swiss banks and financial institutions. Back in year 2001, Swiss banks have managed a great total of 2.6 trillion United States dollars net worth.

Privacy policy of the Swiss banks
The Banking Law of 1934 has turned into a criminal offence for a Swiss bank to disclose information about an account holder. Swiss bank discretion policy guarantees the secrecy of bank customers. The anonymity guaranteed by Swiss laws resembles in its nature confidentiality protection level between doctors and patients or attorneys and their clients.

The Swiss authorities recognize the right to secrecy as a core principle that must be secured by any democratic state. While secrecy is guaranteed all bank accounts are connected to an identified individual, also known as ultimate beneficiary. It should also be pointed out that even the bank privacy principle isn’t absolute per se: a prosecutor or a judge is entitled to issue a legal order granting right to apply legally enforced access to bank data essential for leading an investigation.

However, everything changed on the 27th of May year 2015, when Swiss authorities have signed an agreement with the EU officials. The latter agreement has aligned bank practices of the Swiss banks and financial institutions with common European requirements and standards, which, as a result, has ended the privacy policy that EU-resident customers of Swiss banks had been enjoying lately. According to the provision of the agreement, both parties involved: Switzerland and European Union member states, shall automatically exchange information on the bank accounts of one another's residents starting from year 2018.

Asset management industry in Switzerland
Asset management is a rapidly developing business in Switzerland. In order to make sure that the Swiss financial centre does actually prosper and benefit from this development, several local banking and financial associations have developed the Asset Management Platform Switzerland. This platform fulfills the duties previously carried out by the Asset Management Initiative, which was started back in year 2012. The ultimate goal of the platform is to make Switzerland an appealing, global level destination for asset management purposes.

Asset management in Switzerland is going to be improved into one of the leading forces of the Swiss financial centre. Asset management industry is going to be recognized globally for high levels of trust and quality. The aforementioned platform is going to be used in order to develop asset management in Switzerland as strategic industry. As a result, the Swiss financial centre shall become diversified, as already existing guidelines of business will be re-introduced and industries that are receding shall be compensated for. Also, for the private client business and customer-focused investment banking, asset management is going to turn into a full-scale supporting pillar of the financial centre and Swiss economy as whole.

Swiss banks
As of beginning of year 2008, on the territory of Switzerland there are 327 incorporated and authorized banks and securities dealers. Companies on this list widely range and include the Two Big Banks as well as numerous smaller banks. Click here to view our Swiss banks catalogue.

Money laundering is a process of legalizing money in which an individual takes steps to disguise the origin of the funds in order to make their nature lawful. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) is a set of measures aimed at preventing the use of the financial system or banks for money laundering or terrorist financing. AML measures and tools are standardized worldwide and implemented by international and national institutions, banks and companies. Every bank and other financial institution, as well as other businesses, must implement anti-money laundering laws and regulations. To obtain a banking license, the bank must approve compliance with AML requirements and provide AML policies. The AML Policy may be updated as needed or in response to current trends in the AML field and current practice.

AML policy core principles
Although the AML policy may differ from bank to bank, the major principles are common customer due diligence procedures (CDD) based on know your client principle. Due diligence procedure is based on client provided information in the questionnaire. Such questionnaire must be frequently updated.. If the person transfers funds significantly exceeding the indicated cash flow - the bank may ask additional questions in order to verify the purpose of such transfer. If the company changes the business profile, it must notify the bank. In addition, if the company starts co-operation with a new company, it must notify the bank in order to provide smooth transfer process. Usually banks or other large financial institutions incorporate a specific department that challenges AML. Such department are called Legal Compliance Department.

AML and customer due diligence definitely affect client's privacy. However, the purpose of investigation is solely based on protection of public interests and prevention of financial crimes and support of terrorism. Consequently, lack of investigation would greatly threaten the internal market of the Europe Union.

Goals of AML policy
AML policy was introduced with the ultimate goal to establish a general framework to fight against money laundering, terrorism, corruption and other financial crimes. The other goal is to protect community from money legalization and to ensure that the organization complies with relevant laws and regulations.

By introducing AML policy, it is planned to provide transparent and trackable cash flow that must be maintained in order to prevent terrorist financing and to control its usage by suspected terrorists and criminal groups and their own financial resources. The full transparency and traceability of transfers of funds is an important and valuable mechanism in the prevention process, identification and investigation of money laundering and terrorist financing. If the bank detects a suspicious transaction,it may freeze the funds until the client provides an explanatory reasoning.

Egypt is considered a huge nation due to its total area. Its total land area is 1,001,450 km² (about 386,660 mi²). The continental shelf of Egypt is approximately 61,591 km² (about 23,780 mi²). Egypt is in Africa. Africa is the second largest and second most populous continent on earth. African countries include South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Egypt, among others. Egypt has 4 neighboring countries. Its neighbors include the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Libya and Sudan. Egypt is not a landlocked country. It means it is bounded by at least one major body of water. The average altitude range of Egypt is 321 m (1,053 ft).

Neighbors
The total length of land borders of Egypt is 2612 kilometers (~1,008 miles). Egypt shares land borders with 4 different countries and has the same number of unique land borders with neighboring territories. If, as in the case of Egypt, a country has the same number of distinct neighboring regions as land borders, then that country does not have non-contiguous sections of a land border. This is in contrast to several countries that have multiple non-contiguous stretches of land borders. Egypt has 4 neighboring countries. Its neighbors include the Palestinian Territories, Israel, Libya and Sudan. The lengths of land borders of Egypt with its neighboring countries are as follows:

Palestinian Territories - 11 km (7 miles),
Israel - 266 km (165 miles),
Libya - 1115 km (693 mi),
Sudan - 1273 km (791 miles).

Cities
The capital of Egypt is Cairo. The largest city in Egypt is Cairo.

Elevation
The average altitude range of Egypt is 321 m (1,053 ft). The highest point in Egypt is Mount Catherine with an official height of 2629 m (8,626 ft). The lowest point in Egypt is the Qattara Depression. It is at -133 m (-436 ft), i.e. below sea level. The difference in elevation between the highest (Mount Catherine) and the lowest (Qattara Depression) point in Egypt is 2762 m (2 ft).

Area
The total land area of Egypt is 1,001,450 km² (about 386,660 mi²). and the total Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is 263,451 km² (~101,719 mi²). The continental shelf of Egypt is approximately 61,591 km² (about 23,780 mi²). Including the landmass and the EEZ, the total area of Egypt is approximately 1,264,901 km² (~488,379 mi²). Egypt is considered a huge nation due to its total area.

forest and farmland
670 km² of Egyptian territory is covered with forests, and forest area accounts for 0% of the country's total area. In Egypt, there are 29,067 km² of arable land, which accounts for 3% of the total national territory.