Dublin has been rated the 12th best city in Europe in which to locate a business by the influential European Cities Monitor - the same ranking as last year.
The capital offers the best climate for business created by government, and is the third-best city at promoting itself, according to the survey of major European population centres.
But only 40 per cent of executives interviewed were familiar with Dublin, making it the 19th best-known city in Europe. London and Paris maintained their position as the most-favoured locations in the poll of 501 senior business figures.
Dublin finished in the top 10 on availability of qualified staff, cost of staff, value of office space and quality of life.
But it fared less well in ratings for access to markets, transport links, quality of telecommunications and internal transport.
The number of companies expecting to invest in Dublin rose to seven from three in 2002 - this is three behind London.
The monitor is significant. It offers an insight into the thinking of the continent's business elite, said Mr Peter Browne, managing partner at Lisney, an associate of the report's author, Cushman & Wakefield Healey and Baker.
He said: "The monitor is about the perception that Europe's top business community has of Dublin. While we are doing a good job promoting ourselves, we need to dramatically improve our transport links, telecommunications and infrastructure if we are ever to compete seriously within Europe."
The 10 best cities to do business in, according to the monitor, are: London, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Milan and Munich.
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