GENEVA: Qatar has moved up two places to occupy 14 position globally in the latest Global Competitiveness Index as compared to its last rankings, said the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2015-2016 Global Competitiveness Report.
"Qatar leads the Middle East and North Africa region at 14th position," the WEF report said, adding the country's main strength is its stable macroeconomic environment, which is driven by public budget surpluses and low government debt the result of high windfall revenues from energy exports. The report said the recent decline in the price of oil and gas may undermine the country's performance in future.
The 2015-2016 Global Competitiveness Report said Qatar occupied the first position globally in terms of ease of access to loans and placed its stable macroeconomic environment in the second position, adding that businesses and individuals use latest technologies, including the Internet, widely. Additional strengths include high efficiency in goods and services markets (5th) and a very high level of physical security (4th), the report said.
"To maintain its strong position, Qatar will have to invest its exceptional wealth in the types of innovation and transfer of technology and know-how that can translate into future economic growth.
"Currently government procurement plays a key role in promoting innovation (1st on government procurement of advanced technology products). With imports standing at 30.77 percent of GDP, promoting inward trade and investment could contribute to bringing in new technologies and know-how and enhancing a culture of innovation," the report pointed out.
First place in the GCI rankings, for the seventh consecutive year, goes to Switzerland. Its strong performance in all 12 pillars of the index explains its remarkable resilience throughout the crisis and subsequent shocks. Singapore remains in 2nd place and the United States 3rd. Germany improves by one place to 4th and the Netherlands returns to the 5th place it held three years ago. Japan (6th) and Hong Kong SAR (7th) follow, both stable. Finland falls to 8th place – its lowest position ever – followed by Sweden (9th). The United Kingdom rounds up the top 10 of the most competitive economies in the world.
The Global Competitiveness Report’s competitiveness ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which was introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2004. Defining competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country, GCI scores are calculated by drawing together country-level data covering 12 categories – the pillars of competitiveness – that collectively make up a comprehensive picture of a country’s competitiveness. The 12 pillars are: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.
QNA
