In detail, the GOI covers 147 countries and is calculated based on 51 equally-weighted variables grouped under five categories, namely: Economic Fundamentals (which evaluates the strength and performance of a country’s economy), Financial Services (which assesses investors’ access to financial services), Business Perception (which quantifies the costs incurred in business operations), Institutional Framework (which estimates institutions’ support to businesses), and International Standards and Policy (which measures a country’s level of adherence to international standards). Hong Kong SAR topped the list of covered countries in the 2018 Global Opportunity Index, followed by Singapore, the Netherlands, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Overall, Milken Institute unveiled that it became harder for emerging markets to attract foreign capital throughout the year 2018 amid the swelling geopolitical tensions across many of the concerned countries, coupled with the increasing interest rates in the Unites States. It also pinpointed that investors were rather reluctant to allocate their monies in countries suffering from ailing public finances and external imbalances and in those threatened by protectionist trade policies. The Institute accordingly stressed on the need for all countries, and especially emerging markets, to implement international standards and best international practices, and to modernize their regulatory and monitoring frameworks to adapt with financial technology breakthroughs.

On the regional front, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) outperformed its peers and ranked 28^th in the 2018 GOI, followed by Bahrain (global rank: 44), Qatar (global rank: 46), Saudi Arabia (global rank: 48), and Kuwait (global rank: 59), only to name a few.

Locally, Lebanon came in 108^th in the world in the 2018 Global Opportunity Index, right ahead of Kenya (global rank: 109), yet trailing Ecuador (global rank: 107). More specifically, Lebanon fared best in the Financial Services category (global rank: 55), while ranking 100^th in the International Standards and Policy category, 107^th in the Business Perception category, 121^th in the Economic Fundamentals category, and 125^th in the Institutional Framework category.