Qatar ranked second most competitive Arab economy, and 29th globally out of the 141 countries assessed this year, according to The Global Competitiveness Report 2019 which was published yesterday by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Qatar moved up one rank from last year’s 30th place out of 140 countries, which reflects the country’s continued global competitiveness.
The report which is published annually by the WEF in collaboration with the Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) and the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) at Qatar University, also showed that Qatar ranks first in the Arab world and among the top 10 countries globally in many indicators.
In the Institutional pillar, Qatar moved 2 ranks up from last year to reach the 7th globally in the “Efficiency of the legal framework in challenging regulations” indicator and ranked 6th in the “Government’s responsiveness to change”, while ranked 8th in the “Government long term vision”.
As for the ICT Adoption pillar, Qatar remains among the top 10 economies globally, ranking 8th. It’s worth noting that Qatar is the first globally in terms of the “Internet user” indicator. As for the Skills pillar, Qatar is ranked 8th globally in the “Skillset of Graduates” indicator, and 3rd in the “Ease of finding skilled employees’ indicator and ranked 6th in the “Skills of the future workforce”. As for the Financial System pillar, Qatar is ranked 4th globally in the “Financing of SMEs” indicator, and ranked 5th in the “Venture capital availability”.
In addition to 23 indicators, among which Qatar ranked 10th and 20th globally, in terms of Property rights, Public Sector Performance, Quality of infrastructure in transport in terms of road connectivity, quality of roads, efficiency of air transport services and efficiency of seaport services; as well as in the ICT services, skills of current workforce, quality of vocational training, domestic competition, entrepreneurial culture and growth of innovative companies.
Launched in 1979, the report provides an annual assessment of the drivers of productivity and long-term economic growth. The assessment is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which maps the competitiveness landscape of 141 economies through 103 indicators organized into 12 pillars.
These pillars are Institutions, Infrastructure, ICT adoption, macroeconomic stability, Health, Skills, Product market, Labour market, Financial system, Market size, Business dynamism, and Innovative capability.
The report added that the Mena region has caught up significantly on ICT adoption and many countries have built sound infrastructure. However, greater investments in human capital are needed to transform the countries in the region into more innovative and creative economies.
The Peninsula
10/10/2019
