Formulation of Effective Indicators for Investment in Foreign Countries and Classification of Countries by Means of Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) Techniques

One of the main objectives of the companies is to attend international markets and expand their activities abroad. In case that selection of the destination country for investment be along with expertise studies, it will be a profitable source for companies. Due to the importance of this topic, numerous institutions are active in the field of risk ranking and risk assessment of different countries that each one focuses on a particular aspect. In this study, affecting factors for investment in foreign countries are formulated according to local experts’ opinions and based on that, the optimized countries for investment have been determined.In the first place, quantitative indices are extracted from library studies and reports issued by international institutions, and qualitative indices affecting the choice of target countries have been determined based on expertise interviews. In the second place, based on 16 indicators derived from the previous step, and by means of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) decision making techniques, 47 selected countries have been compared and ranked. It is worth noting that the 16 indicators are classified into 3 main factors: The ease of action in business, macro economy‘s status and the capital market of the country’ status.