Mishal in Media

WEF improves Pakistan’s competitiveness ranking

Newspaper: Daily Times
September 03, 2014
Web Link: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/03-Sep-2014/wef-improves-pakistan-s-competitiveness-ranking

 

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ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has been ranked at 129 out of the 144 economies around the world in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2014-2015, released on September 3, 2014 in Geneva.

 

“Securing 129th rank among 144 Economies around the world, Pakistan improves four ranks as compared to 2013,” says a statement/report of the forum issued here on Wednesday. The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing insight into the drivers of their productivity, innovation and prosperity. The report findings show that Switzerland topped the overall rankings in the GCR for the fifth consecutive year.

 

Singapore remains in second position, the United States in third position and Finland ranked at fourth. Germany fifth, Japan sixth, Hong Kong seventh, Netherlands eighth, the United Kingdom ninth and Sweden ranked at 10. The report evaluates that among the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Pakistan is the at the last among the SAARC member countries at 129, whereas India is at 71, Sri Lanka at 73, Nepal at 102, Bhutan at 103 and Bangladesh at 109.

 

Afghanistan and Maldives have not been included in the report this year. However India and Sri Lanka both lost 11 and eight points respectively as compared to last year. “Although Pakistan has shown slight improvements on the Global Competitiveness Index, it is still passing through a difficult time,” said Amir Jahangir, chief executive officer of the Mishal Pakistan, the country partner institute of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Network of the World Economic Forum.

 

“Pakistan is facing serious challenges on the economic management side that needs to make competitiveness as part of its growth and stabilization strategy for sustainable development across all factors of economy,” Jahangir said. This year’s report consists of three main indexes and 12 pillars. Among 144 economies, Pakistan ranked in basic requirements at 142, in efficiency enhancers at 104 and in innovation and sophistication factors ranked at 78.

 

All the 12 pillars included in the report ranks Pakistan as follows: Institutions are ranked at 123, infrastructure at 121, macroeconomic environment at 145, health and primary education at 128, higher education and training at 129, goods market efficiency at 103, labor market efficiency at 138, financial market development at 67, technological readiness at 118, market size at 30, business sophistication at 85 and innovation at 77.

 

After two consecutive years of steep decline, Pakistan remains essentially stable since last year. The country obtains low marks in the most critical and basic areas of competitiveness. Thanks to a lower inflation rate and a smaller budget deficit, Pakistan’s macroeconomic situation improves slightly but nevertheless remains dismissal.

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