In new research focusing on office space in 42 emerging and frontier markets around the world, the Philippines has been ranked as the 26th safest of the surveyed countries in terms of risk – and more ‘risky’ that last year’s report.
In the research, Cushman and Wakefield noted how emerging and frontier markets present unique and individual challenges for office occupiers and investors. The transparency of data and other information varies immensely, and issues such as a lack of information regarding property rights, government bureaucracy, and corruption increase the risk of entering these markets and often present compliance issues.
Cushman & Wakefield evaluated the risks of acquiring office space in the most sought-after emerging and frontier markets across the globe. To effectively analyse the unique risks these markets pose, its third edition of the Emerging and Frontier Markets survey provides overviews of office markets and relevant property indicators for 42 countries across the globe and collates this data into a “Risk Index”.
The Index has been calculated so that occupiers and investors can better compare the ease of acquiring and operating office space in each of these markets.
Key takeaways from the report, according to the authors, include:
- The African country of Botswana retained its position as the most attractive market for occupiers, benefiting from a low risk operating environment. Meanwhile other African countries of South Africa, Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia also feature within the top 10.
- In Southeast Asia, despite being one of the fastest growing regions in the world with Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines having performed very well from an overall economic perspective, all three countries have slipped slightly down the rankings with ease of property ownership creating issues in Vietnam and the Philippines while Indonesia has higher costs for registering property. Despite this, these locations remain significant growth markets for a number of business types when these challenge are managed correctly.
- In the Americas, while commodity exporting countries have faced challenges from falling global commodity prices. Uruguay however has diversified its trade, climbing to second place in the index and offers a strong operational profile for occupiers, low corruption risk and a strengthening political environment. Meanwhile, Mexico, Argentina and El Salvador have all risen considerably due to much improved local operational market dynamics.
Download Cushman and Wakefield’s Emerging and Frontier Markets report here.
