Norway has joined AT Kearney’s list of the 25 best countries to invest in for the first time since it was launched back in 1998, with the management consultancy praising the country’s “strong natural resource base” and “highly educated workforce”.

Norway entered the list in 24th place, sandwiched between the other two new entrants Poland (23rd) and Finland (25th).

All the Nordic countries except Iceland now make the list, with Sweden leading the way in 18th place and Denmark in 20th place.

The Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index examines political, economic and regulatory changes to predict which countries are likely to draw foreign investment in the near future.

“Despite a small market size, it’s strong natural resource base and highly educated workforce have contributed to developments in high-growth sectors such as renewable energy and IT,” the report reads.

It also praised Norway’s recent increase in tax deductions for research and development.

According to the report, Europe was seeing “unprecedented interest from business executives”, pushing it to set an “all time record” for the report with 15 countries in the top 15.

Norway’s leading foreign investor was Sweden, with TeliaSonera now trying to buy Norway’s Tele2 company for $740m.

The United States led the ranking, followed by China, with the UK leading the way in Europe in 3rd place.

Report “The 2015 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index®” >>>

 
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Photo: AT Kearney