Jordan Times
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Jordan’s ranking improves on
Global Competitiveness Report
By Omar Obeidat
AMMAN –– Jordan’s ranking improved in the Global Competitiveness Report
2008-2009, released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum.
The Kingdom ranked 48th on a list of 134 countries in this year’s report,
compared to last year, when it came in the 49th place on the list of 131
countries.
Jordan Investment Board (JIB) Chief Executive Officer Maan Nsour told The Jordan
Times on Wednesday “the ranking is fair but Jordan has the potential to occupy a
higher rank”.
The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness
including institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and
primary education, higher education and training, goods marketing efficiency,
labour market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological
readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.
Nsour added that the Kingdom held an advanced position in the quality of its
educational system (27th among the 134 studied countries), on top of countries
such as the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, the UAE and Israel.
He pointed to the reliability of police force and internal security in which the
Kingdom was among the first 15 countries, “which is instrumental to the
investment environment”.
Jordan also ranked 27th in terms of time required to start a business, while it
came 90th in the field of brain drain, which the JIB chief labelled as a
problem.
In the field of ability of latest technologies, Jordan came in the 31st place,
Nsour indicated.
“The government is extremely keen on enhancing the macroeconomic stability of
the Kingdom which will reflect on future rankings,” he noted.
“In order to improve the ranking, there should be serious cooperation between
all relevant institutions to focus on the main weaknesses to upgrade performance
in all areas,” Nsour added.
According to the report, Jordan ranked eighth among Arab countries following
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Tunisia, Bahrain and
Oman.
The rankings in the report are decided on the basis of both publicly available
data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual study conducted by
the World Economic Forum together with its network of partner institutes
(leading research centres and business organisations) in the countries covered
by the report.
This year, a total of 12,000 business leaders were polled in a record 134
countries. 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 the report, the US topped the overall ranking and Switzerland was in second
position, followed by Denmark, Sweden and Singapore.
China continues to lead the way among large developing economies, improving by
four places this year and joining the top 30, followed by India, Russia and
Brazil.
Several Asian economies perform strongly with Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and
Taiwan in the top 20.
In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked country, followed by Panama, Costa
Rica and Mexico.
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.