Netherlands in top 3 for trade

The World Economic Forum has listed the Netherlands as the country with the third best accommodations for international trade. Singapore and Hong Kong repeated as the top two countries, with Holland advancing from 7th in the biannual Global Enabling Trade Report.

Netherlands had finished 10th in the 2010 Enabling Trade Index.

The country received high praise for ICT infrastructure, the efficiency, quality and transparency of the Customs service, and the harbor, with a first-place ranking for port infrastructure.

The index criticized the Dutch tax system in the report, calling it a stumbling block in the world of international business. Though the country has some of the lowest import taxes worldwide, the complexities of the system are difficult to navigate, the report said.

“We earn almost a third of our revenue with with trade,” said Foreign Trade and Development Minister Lilianne Ploumen. “For growth and jobs it is crucial that we make it as easy as possible for companies to do business across borders,” she told newswire ANP.