Sweden is the fifth best country in the world to do trade with while protectionism threatens global free trade.

Sweden is in the top league over first-class countries when it comes to international trade and investments, World Economic Forum said as they released its Global Enabling Trade Report 2009.

The organization, which measures and analyzes institutions, policies and services enabling trade in national economies around the world, said that Singapore and Hong Kong are the best countries in the world to do trade with.

“The results mirror the openness of Singapore and Hong Kong SAR to international trade and investment as part of their successful economic development strategy. Both economies have put into place highly efficient border administrations and supportive business environments”, World Economic Forum said in the report.

The US, on the other hand, fell to place 16 as the country’s position is “weakened by restricted access to markets and concerns about costs to business resulting from crime, violence and terrorism”.

Sweden is ranked as the fifth best country in the world to do trade with because of its smooth border administration, efficient transportation and communication systems and a thriving business environment. Also Denmark, Finland and Norway are among the top-ten.

The results are launched at a crucial time for global trade, as overall economic activity declines, trade volumes drop and public authorities adopt counter-cyclical stimulus policies and institutional reforms, the organization points out.

Last week Sweden’s National Board of Trade raised concern in a report about increased protectionism and potential trade wars across the world. Despite WTO’s strict regulations for the member nations, it’s still easy to bypass the rules.

“It is clear that some countries are at liberty to engage protectionist trade policy without breaching the agreements they signed in the WTO”, the agency writes in the report Open trade or protectionism.

Protectionism is also popular disguised in other vocabulary, such as anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures.

“The National Board of Trade also finds that these measures are often used to protect weak industries and should be viewed as protectionist instruments”, the report points out.