AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Jan 13 2005

Azerbaijan among mostly unfree countries, says report

The US Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal have included
Azerbaijan into the list of mostly unfree countries. In their 2004
Index of Economic Freedom based on a 5-point scale, Azerbaijan’s
standing was at 3.38, which makes it 103rd in the world out of 155
countries indicated.

A similar report issued in 2003 placed Azerbaijan 106th, with a 3.39
rating.
Topping the list is Hong Kong, while Singapore and Luxembourg were
rated second and third respectively. Former Soviet Union republic
Estonia was rated fourth. The United States, which has topped a list
of 10 for the past 11 years, was downgraded to 12th place. Ireland,
New Zealand, Great Britain, Denmark, Iceland, Australia and Chile
were placed ahead of the US.

The report placed Armenia 42nd with a 2.28 rating, while Russia
124th. Iran, Cuba, Laos, Turkmenistan, Zimbabwe, Libya, Myanmar and
North Korea (155th) were indicated as the most economically unfree
countries.
The rating of countries was determined based on trade policy,
interference of the government, financial policy, foreign
investments, wages and pricing, and property rights.