As any economist can tell you, entrepreneurship is the key to building stable, sustainable societies.  And ironically, stable, sustainable societies are a requirement for enticing entrepreneurs to start businesses in a country.¹ 

It’s a self-reinforcing loop that can either spiral upward or downward.  Nowhere has this been clearer than in the example of Rwanda, which was torn apart by genocide and lawlessness in the 1990s, making it one of the least attractive nations in the world for starting a business, on a par with Haiti, Liberia, and Gaza, according to Harvard Business Review.²

But as of this year, Rwanda went from 143^rd on the World Bank’s rankings for “ease of doing business” to 67^th, making it more business-friendly than Poland.³ Rwanda is just one of the developing countries working hard to leverage entrepreneurship as a means to improve the standard of living for its people.  Other outstanding examples include:

• Chilean fisheries, which now supply supermarkets around the world

• High-tech entrepreneurs in Israel, who are at the leading edge of innovation in many fields

• Iceland’s pharmaceutical manufacturer Activis, which became one of the world’s top five leaders in generic drugs in less than 10 years

Of course, entrepreneurs can’t flourish in a vacuum.  The governments of those countries were instrumental in creating a climate that would encourage and help them build those businesses.  Impressed with these successes, other nations are trying to follow suit.  The most important element for success is the rule of law, and especially laws that permit entrepreneurs to operate freely and without “red tape.”  Also key are transparent and non-corrupt democratic governments.

In a seminal Harvard Business Review⁴ article, Professor Daniel J. Isenberg of Babson College identified a number of critical elements needed to foment an entrepreneurial...