2025-05-01: Site Selection Names Global Best to Invest Locations, Awards Prosperity Cup and Mac Conway Awards for Excellence in Regional Economic Development

The rankings are based on a robust index of business indicators including Site Selection’s own project data as well as data from UN Trade and Development, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), IMD, DHL, NYU Stern School of Business, Startup Genome, Startup Blink, OECD, Mori Foundation, Kearney and Milken Institute to recognize the nations and metro areas with the most economic momentum and promise across several world regions.

Udai Panicker, Singapore country manager for advisory firm Tractus, says Singapore “continues to successfully marry its historical heart as a trading hub with quality infrastructure, smart technologies and attractive market entry policies for businesses across various sectors.” The UK, Minister for Investment Poppy Gustafsson said in April at a partnership signing with none other than Singapore’s second largest bank, has “the most open, stable and connected economy in the world.”

Among regional winners at the country level are the UK, Ireland and Germany in Western Europe; Lithuania, Hungary and Poland in the Eastern European and Central Asia Region; Israel, the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the Africa & Middle East Region; Australia, South Korea and Singapore in the Asia Pacific Region; and Mexico, Chile and Brazil in the Latin America & Caribbean Region.

Bonus online-only analysis includes insights from Kearney’s 2025 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Confidence Index, released in early April, as well as additional perspectives from other sources used in the index.

In other rankings in the issue, Texas, up from No. 3 last year, has won the Prosperity Cup, which is awarded to the most competitive state based on an index of 10 criteria, including project, capex and job creation data from Site Selection and data from the Tax Foundation and ACT. Indiana repeats as No. 2 in the Prosperity Cup rankings, followed by North Carolina, Ohio and Illinois rounding out the top five.

The Mac Conway Awards for Excellence in Economic Development, named in honor of Site Selection founding publisher H. McKinley “Mac” Conway, are awarded to the top 20 regional U.S. economic development groups based on an index of corporate job creation and facility-related capital investment data calculated both cumulatively and per capita as well as the findings from external sources at Milken Institute and Heartland Forward. (See list below.)

Also featured in the May 2025 issue: first-hand insights from a multinational into location decision-making in Latin America; Top Deals of 2024; thoughts on the importance of water resources from a pre-eminent national expert; whether data centers are worth the water cost in the Great Lakes; the Georgia Intelligence Report; and tribal economic development at a port in the Pacific Northwest. Industry reports cover health tech/life sciences, the North American automotive sector and industrial hemp. Area spotlights highlight Costa Rica, the UK, Florida, Quebec, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Gulf Coast ports, Arizona, the I-75 corridor, Kentucky, Utah and New England, in addition to Site Selection Investment Profiles of Greater Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

The July 2025 “Technology & Innovation” issue of Site Selection will feature the publication’s annual rankings of America’s Best Counties, the best countries, U.S. states and U.S. metros for sustainability and top global startup ecosystems, including reporting directly from the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Indianapolis next month. Also in the forthcoming issue: smart cities, site development, research & science parks, rural economic development and a special “inflation busters” report on areas that offer the most cost-effective environment for manufacturing and for headquarters.

Charts of the May 2025 issue’s primary rankings can be found below. Full charts and data can be found in the stories posted at www.siteselection.com.

Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., delivers expansion planning information to a qualified circulation of 41,000 executives of fast-growing firms. Now in its 72nd year of publication, Site Selection is also available via Site Selection Online. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Conway Data, publisher of Site Selection magazine and industry newsletters, in 2017 was recognized as Georgia International Small Business of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Conway Data has been a trusted advisor to corporations, government economic development and investment promotion agencies around the world since 1954. Conway Data also manages the Industrial Asset Management Council. (Note: All circulation information is publisher’s own data unless otherwise specified).

• City of Auburn Economic Development
• City of Opelika Economic Development
• Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas
• Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce
• Charleston Regional Development Alliance
• Charlotte Regional Business Alliance
• City of College Station Economic Development
• City of Bryan Economic Development
• Dallas Regional Chamber
• Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership
• Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation
• Research Triangle Regional Partnership
• Upstate SC Alliance
• Greater Houston Partnership
• Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce
• Indy Chamber // Indy Partnership
• Kansas City Area Development Council
• Greater Lafayette Commerce
• Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Phoenix Economic Council
• Salt Lake City Department of Economic Development
• Salt Lake County Office of Regional Development
• greater:SATX Regional Economic Partnership
• Wilmington Business Development