Half the countries in the world do not provide a stable environment for companies to operate in. This is according to the analysis in RiskMap 2007 published Control Risks, the international business risk consultancy.

RiskMap 2007 reveals that 96 of the 198 countries surveyed (49 percent) were ranked as being medium, high or extreme for political risk. This means that, at best, businesses in these countries are likely to face disruption to their activities and, at worst, the state is actively hostile to foreign business.

The situation is almost as challenging when RiskMap 2007 looks at security risks for businesses across the world. RiskMap 2007 reveals that 78 out of the 198 countries surveyed (40 percent) were ranked as being medium, high or extreme for security risk. This means that, at best, there is a reasonable possibility of security problems affecting companies and, at worst, business of any sort may be completely untenable.

Critical issues for business in 2007
According to Control Risks terrorism will continue to dominate the headlines but should be treated as a risk like any other, requiring detailed contingency planning. Energy concerns, always an important issue for business, will prove to be critical. The exponential growth of transnational crime in areas like intellectual property and counterfeiting are now widely recognised as crucial security issues. And the possibility of a worldwide pandemic continues to be a real concern for businesses across the world”

Terrorism – The terrorist threat, or perceptions of the terrorist threat, still continues to top the international agenda. But there is an increasingly strong argument that these concerns are starting to have a disproportionate and pernicious impact on political and commercial decision making around the globe.

Energy – Political and security dynamics in Russia, Nigeria and Venezuela will conspire to unsettle energy production at the same time as China and India drive demand to record levels.

Transnational crime – Cyber crime, intellectual property infringements and plain old counterfeiting all continue to grow at an exponential rate. The trade in illicit goods is growing at eight times the speed of legitimate trade and this has caused business to lose over $500 billion since the early nineties.

Pandemic – A global pandemic scenario has largely disappeared from the news in late 2006. However, the virus has not gone away and the threat of a worldwide pandemic is as strong as ever. If it happens, the effect on unprepared governments and business could be catastrophic.

Countries with areas at EXTREME security risk
[* indicates entire country rated at extreme]:

Afghanistan; Burundi; Congo (DRC); Côte d’Ivoire; Iraq; Pakistan; Somalia; Sri Lanka

Countries with areas at HIGH security risk (by region)
[* indicates entire country rated at high]:

AFRICA: Angola; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Kenya; Liberia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; South Africa; Uganda; Zimbabwe*

AMERICAS: Colombia; Ecuador; Guatemala; Haiti*; Jamaica; Panama; Peru; Venezuela

ASIA: Bangladesh; Burma (Myanmar); East Timor*; India; Indonesia; Laos; Papua New Guinea*; Philippines; Thailand

EUROPE: Armenia; Azerbaijan; Georgia; Kyrgyzstan; Moldova; Russia; Tajikistan; Uzbekistan

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA: Algeria; Israel and Gaza/West Bank; Saudi Arabia*; Sudan; Turkey; Yemen*

Countries with areas at MEDIUM security risk (by region)
[* indicates entire country rated at medium]:

AFRICA: Benin; Burkina Faso*; Comoros*; Congo; Djibouti*; Ghana; Guinea (Conakry)*; Lesotho*; Madagascar*; Mozambique*; São Tomé & Príncipe*; Sierra Leone*; Senegal; Swaziland*; Tanzania; Togo*; Zambia

AMERICAS: Argentina; Bolivia*; Brazil; Costa Rica; Dominican Republic*; Ecuador; El Salvador*; Guyana*; Honduras*; Mexico*; Nicaragua; Paraguay; Trinidad & Tobago; United States

ASIA: Cambodia*; China; Fiji*; Mongolia*; Nepal*; Solomon Islands*; Tonga*

EUROPE: Albania; France; Greece; Italy; Kazakhstan*; Macedonia*; Serbia; Spain; Turkmenistan*; Ukraine*

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA: Egypt*; Iran*; Lebanon*; Morocco*

Countries with areas at EXTREME political risk
Somalia

Countries with areas at HIGH political risk
Afghanistan, Belarus, Bolivia, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Guinea (Conakry), Haiti, Iraq, Liberia, Nepal, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

Countries with areas at MEDIUM political risk
Albania ,Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo (DRC), Djibouti, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, São Tomé & Príncipe, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yemen, Zambia.

To obtain a copy of the report, please email events@control-risks.com

•Date: 8th Nov 2006• Region: World •Type: Article •Topic: Operational risk
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