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US Remains World's Most Competitive Economy,
By Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
Monday, October 13, 2008
The United States tops the overall ranking in the World Economic Forum's latest
Global Competitiveness Report, covering the year 2008-2009.
The new report, released on October 8, puts Switzerland in second position,
followed by Denmark, Sweden and Singapore. European economies continue to prevail
in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The
United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has dropped by three places
and out of the top 10, mainly attributable to a weakening of its financial markets.
The People’s Republic of China continues to lead the way among large
developing economies, improving by four places this year and joining the top
30. All of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economies figure in the top
half of the ranking, with China followed by India, Russia and Brazil.
Several Asian economies perform strongly with Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Republic
of Korea and Taiwan in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked
country, followed by Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.
A number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the
upper half of the rankings, led by Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf
States since last year. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Botswana and Mauritius
feature in the top half of the rankings, with several countries from the region
measurably improving their competitiveness.
“Rising food and energy prices, a major international financial crisis
and the related slowdown in the world’s leading economies, are confronting
policy-makers with new economic management challenges. Today’s volatility
underscores the importance of a competitiveness-supporting economic environment
that can help national economies to weather these types of shocks in order to
ensure solid economic performance going into the future,” said Xavier
Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA, and co-author
of the report.
The Global Competitiveness Report’s main competitiveness ranking is the
Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), developed for the Swiss-based WEF by Sala-i-Martin
and originally introduced in 2004. The GCI is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness,
providing a comprehensive picture of the competitiveness landscape in countries
around the world at all stages of development. The pillars include: Institutions,
Infrastructure, Macroeconomic Stability, Health and Primary Education, Higher
Education and Training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labour Market Efficiency, Financial
Market Sophistication, Technological Readiness, Market Size, Business Sophistication
and Innovation.
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the 'Executive
Opinion Survey,' a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic
Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes
and business organizations) in the countries covered by the report. This year,
over 12,000 business leaders were polled in a record 134 global economies. The
survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s
business climate. The report also includes comprehensive listings of the main
strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities
for policy reform.
“In an uncertain global financial environment it is more important than
ever for countries to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic
growth and development. The World Economic Forum has for many years played a
facilitating role in this process by providing detailed assessments of the productive
potential of nations worldwide. The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009
offers policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation
of improved economic policies and institutional reforms,” noted Klaus
Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.
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