The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009

The Global Competitiveness Report 20082009

Michael E. Porter, Harvard University Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum Geneva, Switzerland 2008

The Global Competitiveness Report 20082009KLAUS SCHWAB World Economic Forum MICHAEL E. PORTER Harvard University Co-Directors, The Global Competitiveness Report

The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 2008 World Economic Forum

The Global Competitiveness Report 20082009 is published by the World Economic Forum within the framework of the Global Competitiveness Network.

World Economic Forum Geneva Copyright 2008 by the World Economic Forum All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise without the prior permission of the World Economic Forum. ISBN-13: 978-92-95044-11-1 ISBN-10: 92-95044-11-8 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Printed and bound in Switzerland by SRO-Kundig.

AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

Professor Klaus Schwab Executive Chairman Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin Chief Adviser of the Global Competitiveness Network Fiona Paua Senior Director, Head of Strategic Insight TeamsGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS NETWORK

Jennifer Blanke, Director, Senior Economist, Head of Global Competitiveness Network Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Director, Senior Economist Irene Mia, Director, Senior Economist Thierry Geiger, Economist, Global Leadership Fellow Ciara Browne, Senior Community Manager Agustina Ciocia, Community Manager Eva Trujillo Herrera, Research Assistant Patrick McGee, Research Assistant Pearl Samandari, Coordinator

AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Michael Porter Bishop William Lawrence University ProfessorINSTITUTE FOR STRATEGY AND COMPETITIVENESS

Christian Ketels, Principal Associate Richard Bryden, Director of Information Products Mercedes Delgado, Institute Fellow and Assistant Professor at Temple University

We thank Hope Steele for her superb editing work and Ha Nguyen for her excellent graphic design and layout. The terms country and nation as used in this report do not in all cases refer to a territorial entity that is a state as understood by international law and practice. The terms cover well-defined, geographically self-contained economic areas that may not be states but for which statistical data are maintained on a separate and independent basis.


Contents

Partner Institutes

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Part 2: Country/Economy Profiles and Data Presentation2.1 The Executive Opinion Survey: The Voice of the Business Communityby Ciara Browne, Richard Bryden, Mercedes Delgado, and Thierry Geiger

65

Prefaceby Klaus Schwab

xi 67

Part 1: The Competitiveness Indexes1.1 The Global Competitiveness Index: Prioritizing the Economic Policy Agendaby Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Jennifer Blanke, Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Thierry Geiger, Irene Mia, and Fiona Paua

12.2 Country/Economy Profiles 3 79How to Read the Country/Economy Profiles ................................81 List of Countries/Economies .........................................................83 Country/Economy Profiles .............................................................84

2.3 Data Tables 1.2 Moving to a New Global Competitiveness Indexby Michael E. Porter, Mercedes Delgado, Christian Ketels, and Scott Stern

353

43

How to Read the Data Tables......................................................355 Index of Data Tables ....................................................................357 Data Tables ..................................................................................359

Technical Notes and Sources

493

About the Authors

497

Acknowledgments

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Partner Institutes

The World Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Network is pleased to acknowledge and thank the following organizations as our valued Partner Institutes, without whom the realization of The Global Competitiveness Report 20082009 would not have been feasible:Albania Institute for Contemporary Studies (ISB) Artan Hoxha, President Elira Jorgoni, Senior Expert and Project Manager Denalada Kuzumi, Researcher Algeria Centre de Recherche en Economie Applique pour le Dveloppement (CREAD) Youcef Benabdallah, Assistant Professor Yassine Ferfera, Director Argentina IAEUniversidad Austral Mara Elina Gigaglia, Project Manager Eduardo Luis Fracchia, Professor Armenia Economy and Values Research Center Manuk Hergnyan, Chairman Sevak Hovhannisyan, Board Member and Senior Associate Gohar Malumyan, Research Associate Australia Australian Industry Group Nicholas James, Economist Tony Pensabene, Associate Director, Economics & Research Heather Ridout, Chief Executive Austria Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) Karl Aiginger, Director Gerhard Schwarz, Coordinator, Survey Department Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Marketing Society Fuad Aliyev, Executive Director Ashraf Hajiyev, Project Coordinator Saida Talibova, Consultant Bahrain Bahrain Competitiveness Council, Bahrain Economic Development Board Nada Azmi, Business Intelligence Specialist, Research Services Unit Jawad Habib, Senior Partner, BDO Jawad Habib Rima Al Kilani, Director, International Marketing Bangladesh Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Senior Research Fellow Kazi Mahmudur Rahman, Senior Research Associate Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director

Barbados Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies, University of West Indies (UWI) Andrew Downes, Director Belgium Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Lutgart Van den Berghe, Professor, Executive Director and Chairman, Competence Centre Entrepreneurship, Governance and Strategy Bieke Dewulf, Associate, Competence Centre Entrepreneurship, Governance and Strategy Wim Moesen, Professor Benin Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) Benin Epiphane Adjovi, Business Coordinator Maria-Odile Attanasso, Deputy Coordinator Fructueux Deguenonvo, Researcher Bosnia and Herzegovina MIT Center, School of Economics and Business in Sarajevo, University of Sarajevo Zlatko Lagumdija, Professor Zeljko Sain, Executive Director Jasmina Selimovic, Assistant Director Botswana Botswana National Productivity Centre Dabilani Buthali, Manager, Information and Research Services Department Thembo Lebang, Executive Director Omphemetse David Matlhape, Research Consultant Brazil Fundao Dom Cabral Marina Arajo, Researcher Carlos Arruda, Professor and Coordinator of Competitiveness and Innovation Center Juan Rios, Research Assistant Movimento Brasil Competitivo (MBC) Cludio Leite Gastal, Director President Lucas Tadeu Melo Cmara, Director Brunei Darussalam Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Dato Dr. Hj Ahmad Hj Jumat, Minister Dato Paduka Hj Hamdillah Hj Abd Wahab, Deputy Minister Dato Paduka Hamid Hj Mohd Jaafar, Permanent Secretary Bulgaria Center for Economic Development Anelia Damianova, Senior Expert Burkina Faso Socit dEtudes et de Recherche Formation pour le Dveloppement (SERF) Abdoulaye Tarnagda, Director General Burundi University Research Centre for Economic and Social Development (CURDES), National University of Burundi Richard Ndereyahaga, Head of CURDES Gilbert Niyongabo, Dean, Faculty of Economics & Management


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Partner Institutes

Cambodia Economic Institute of Cambodia Sok Hach, Director Tuy Chak Riya, Research Associate Hang Sambopisith, Researcher Cameroon Comit de Comptitivit (Competitiveness Committee) Lucien Sanzouango, Permanent Secretary Canada Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity Lance Bialas, Researcher Roger Martin, Chairman and Dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto James Milway, Executive Director Chad Groupe de Recherches Alternatives et de Monitoring du Projet Ptrole-Tchad-Cameroun (GRAMP-TC) Antoine Doudjidingao, Researcher Gilbert Maoundonodji, Director Celine Nnodji Mbaipeur, Program Officer Chile Universidad Adolfo Ibez Ignacio Briones, Associate Professor of Economics, School of Government Leonidas Montes, Dean, School of Government China Institute of Economic System and Management National Development and Reform Commission Zhou Haichun, Deputy Director and Professor Chen Wei, Research Fellow Dong Ying, Professor

Ecuador Escuela de Postgrado en Administracin de Empresas (ESPAE) Escuela Superior Politcnica del Litoral (ESPOL) Elizabeth Arteaga, Project Assistant Virginia Lasio, Acting Director Sara Wong, Professor Egypt The Egyptian Center for Economic Studies Hanaa Kheir-El-Din, Executive Director and Director of Research Estonia Estonian Institute of Economic Research Evelin Ahermaa, Head of Economic Research Sector Marje Josing, Director Estonian Development Fund Kitty Kubo, Head of Foresight Ott Prna, Chief Executive Officer Ethiopia African Institute of Management, Development and Governance Tegegne Teka, General Manager Finland ETLAThe Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Petri Rouvinen, Research Director Pasi Sorjonen, Head of the Forecasting Group Pekka Yl-Anttila, Managing Director France HEC School of Management, Paris Bertrand Moingeon, Professor, Deputy Dean Bernard Ramanantsoa, Professor, Dean of HEC School of Management Gambia, The Gambia Economic and Social Development Research Institute (GESDRI) Makaireh A. Njie, Director Georgia Business Initiative for Reforms in Georgia Giga Makharadze, Founding Member of the Board of Directors Tamar Tchintcharauli, Executive Director Mamuka Tsereteli, Founding Member of the Board of Directors Germany WHUOtto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar Ralf Fendel, Professor of Monetary Economics Michael Frenkel, Professor, Chair of Macroeconomics and International Economics Ghana Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) Carlo Hey, Project Manager Cletus Kosiba, Executive Director Tony Oteng-Gyasi, President Greece SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises Michael Mitsopoulos, Coordinator, Research and Analysis Thanasis Printsipas, Economist, Research and Analysis Guatemala FUNDESA Edgar A. Heinemann, President of the Board of Directors Pablo Schneider, Economic Director Juan Carlos Zapata, General Manager Guyana Institute of Development Studies, University of Guyana Karen Pratt, Research Associate Clive Thomas, Director

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China Center for Economic Statistics Research, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics Lu Dong, Professor Jian Wang, Associate Professor Huazhang Zheng, Associate Professor Colombia National Planning Department Orlando Gracia Fajardo, Entrepreneurial Development Director Carolina Rentera Rodrguez, General Director Mauricio Torres Velsquez, Advisor Cte dIvoire Chambre de Commerce et dIndustrie de Cte dIvoire Mamadou Sarr, General Director Croatia National Competitiveness Council Martina Hatlak, Research Assistant Mira Lenardic, General Secretary Cyprus Cyprus College Research Center Bambos Papageorgiou, Head of Socioeconomic and Academic Research The Cyprus Development Bank Maria Markidou-Georgiadou, Manager, International Banking Services Unit and Business Development Czech Republic CMC Graduate School of Business Dagmar Glckaufov, Academic Dean Filip Hrn, President Denmark Copenhagen Business School, Department of International Economics and Management Lise Peitersen, Administrative Director Ole Risager, Professor


Hong Kong SAR Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce David ORear, Chief Economist Federation of Hong Kong Industries Alexandra Poon, Director Hungary KOPINT-TRKI Economic Research Ltd. gnes Nagy, Project Manager va Palcz, Chief Executive Officer Iceland Innovation Center Iceland Karl Fridriksson, Managing Director of Human Resources and Services Rosa Signy Gisladottir, Manager, Marketing and Media Relations Thorsteinn I. Sigfusson, Director India Confederation of Indian Industry Chandrajit Banerjee, Director-General Tarun Das, Chief Mentor T S Vishwanath, Senior Director and Head, International Trade Policy Indonesia Kadin Indonesia M.S. Hidayat, Chairman Tulus Tambunan, Director Ireland Competitiveness Survey Group, Department of Economics, University College Cork Eleanor Doyle, Professor, Department of Economics Niall OSullivan Bernadette Power National Competitiveness Council Adrian Devitt, Manager Caoimhe Gavin, Policy Advisor Grinne Greehy, Graduate Trainee Israel Manufacturers Association of Israel (MAI) Shraga Brosh, President Dan Catarivas, Director Yehuda Segev, Managing Director Italy SDA Bocconi School of Management Secchi Carlo, Full Professor of Economic Policy, Bocconi University Paola Dubini, Associate Professor, Bocconi University Francesco A. Saviozzi, SDA Assistant Professor, Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management Department Jamaica Mona School of Business (MSB), University of the West Indies Patricia Douce, Survey Coordinator Michelle Tomlinson, Survey Coordinator Neville Ying, Executive Director and Professor Japan Hitotsubashi University, Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy (ICS) in cooperation with Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) Yoko Ishikura, Professor Kiyohiko Ito, Vice-President and General Manager for Policy Studies, Keizai Doyukai Jordan Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation Jordan National Competitiveness Team Rafat Al-Rawabdeh, Senior Researcher

Kazakhstan Corporation for Export Development and Promotion Vakhit Mamatayev, Consultant Gaziz Myltykbayev, Deputy Chairman of the Board Kassen Pernebayev, Director, Analytical Department Kenya Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi Mohamud Jama, Director and Associate Professor Paul Kamau, Research Fellow Dorothy McCormick, Associate Professor Korea, Republic of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and TechnologyKAIST Myungchul Shin, Head, School Administration Bae Soonhoon, Vice President and Professor, Graduate School of Management Youjin Sung, Manager, Exchange Program Kuwait Economics Department, Kuwait University Abdullah Alsalman, Assistant Professor Mohammed El-Sakka, Professor Reyadh Faras, Assistant Professor Kyrgyz Republic Economic Policy Institute Bishkek Consensus Lola Abduhametova, Program Coordinator Marat Tazabekov, Chairman Latvia Institute of Economics, Latvian Academy of Sciences, Riga Raita Karnite, Director Lesotho Mohloli Chamber of Business Refiloe Kepa, General Manager Libya National Economic Development Board Entisar Elbahi, Executive Office Manager Lithuania Statistics Lithuania Ona Grigiene, Head, Economical Survey Division Algirdas Semeta, Director General Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Franois-Xavier Borsi, Attach, Economic Department Philippe Courtin, Attach, Economic Department Carlo Thelen, Chief Economist, Member of the Managing Board Macedonia, FYR National Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness Council (NECC) Dejan Janevski, Project Coordinator Zoran Stavreski, President of the Managing Board Saso Trajkoski, Executive Director Madagascar Centre of Economic Studies, University of Antananarivo Pp Andrianomanana, Director Razato Raharijaona Simo, Executive Secretary Malawi Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Chancellor L. Kaferapanjira, Chief Executive Officer Malaysia Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Tan Sri Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mahani Zainal Abidin, Director-General Steven C.M. Wong, Assistant Director-General Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) Dato Nik Zainiah Nik Abdul Rahman, Director General Chan Kum Siew, Director, International Competitiveness Division


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Partner Institutes

Mali Groupe de Recherche en Economie Applique et Thorique (GREAT) Massa Coulibaly, Coordinator Malta Competitive MaltaFoundation for National Competitiveness Margrith Lutschg-Emmenegger, Vice President Adrian Said, Chief Coordinator Caroline Sciortino, Research Coordinator Mauritania Centre dInformation Mauritanien pour le Dveloppement Economique et Technique (CIMDET/CCIAM) L Abdoul, Consultant and Analyst Khira Mint Cheikhnani, Director Habib Sy, Analyst Mauritius Joint Economic Council of Mauritius Raj Makoond, Director Board of Investment, Investmauritius Dev Chamroo, Director, Planning & Policy Manisha Dookhony, Manager, Planning & Policy Raju Jaddoo, Managing Director Mexico Center for Intellectual Capital and Competitiveness Erika Ruiz Manzur, Executive Director Ren Villarreal Arrambide, President and Chief Executive Officer Jess Zurita Gonzlez, General Director Instituto Mexicano Para la Competitividad (IMCO) Gabriela Alarcon Esteva, Economist Manuel J. Molano Ruiz, Deputy General Director Roberto Newell Garcia, General Director PROMEXICO Trade & Investment Jose Gustavo Hernandez Rodriguez, Business Intelligence Unit Lisette Jimenez del Rio, Business Intelligence Unit Bernardo von Raesfeld Porras, Business Intelligence Unit Moldova Center for Strategic Territorial Development Ruslan Codreanu, Executive Director Roman Smolnitchi, Program Coordinator Mongolia Open Society Forum (OSF) Munkhsoyol Baatarjav, Manager of Economic Policy Erdenejargal Perenlei, Executive Director Montenegro Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses (ISSP) Maja Drakic, Project Manager Petar Ivanovic, Chief Executive Officer Veselin Vukotic, President Morocco Universit Hassan II Fouzi Mourji, Professor of Economics Mozambique EconPolicy Research Group, Lda. Peter Coughlin, Director Donaldo Miguel Soares, Researcher Ema Marta Soares, Assistant Namibia Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) Joel Hinaunye Eita, Senior Researcher Lameck Odada, Research Assistant Klaus Schade, Acting Director Nepal Centre for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA) Ramesh Chandra Chitrakar, Executive Director Menaka Rajbhandari Shrestha, Researcher Santosh Kumar Upadhyaya, Researcher

Netherlands Erasmus Strategic Renewal Center, Erasmus University Rotterdam Frans A. J. Van den Bosch, Professor Henk W. Volberda, Professor New Zealand Business New Zealand Marcia Dunnett, Manager, Sector Groups Phil OReilly, Chief Executive The New Zealand Institute David Skilling, Chief Executive Officer Nigeria Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Felix Ogbera, Associate Director, Research Chris Okpoko, Senior Consultant, Research Norway BI Norwegian School of Management Eskil Goldeng, Researcher Torger Reve, Professor HSH, The Federation of Norwegian Commercial and Service Enterprises Vibeke H. Madsen, Chief Executive Officer Oman The International Research Foundation Azzan Al Busaidi, Chief Executive Officer Salem Ben Nasser Al-Ismaily, Chairman Pakistan Competitiveness Support Fund Arthur Bayhan, Chief Executive Officer Amir Jahangir, Manager, Communications Paraguay Centro de Anlisis y Difusin de Economia Paraguaya (CADEP) Dionisio Borda, Director Jaime Escobar, Research Member Fernando Masi, Research Member Peru Centro de Desarrollo Industrial (CDI), Sociedad Nacional de Industrias Nstor Asto, Project Director Luis Tenorio, Executive Director Philippines Makati Business Club Alberto A. Lim, Executive Director Michael B. Mundo, Chief Economist Mark P. Opulencia, Deputy Director Poland Warsaw School of Economics Bogdan Radomski, Associate Professor Portugal PROFORUM, Associao para o Desenvolvimento da Engenharia Ildio Antnio de Ayala Serdio, Vice President of the Board of Directors Forum de Administradores de Empresas FAE Pedro do Carmo Costa, Member of the Board of Directors Adilia Lisboa, General Director Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 2000, Inc. Suzette M. Jimenez, President Francisco Montalvo Fiol, Project Coordinator Qatar Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) Issa Abdul Salam Abu Issa, Secretary-General Bassam Ramzi Massouh, General Manager Ahmed El-Shaffee, Economist

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Romania Group of Applied Economics (GEA) Anca Rusu, Program Coordinator Liviu Voinea, Executive Director Russian Federation Bauman Innovation, Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation Alexei Prazdnitchnykh, Principal, Associate Professor Stockholm School of Economics, Russia Igor Dukeov, Research Fellow Carl F. Fey, Associate Dean of Research Saudi Arabia National Competitiveness Center (NCC) Awwad Al-Awwad, Deputy Governor for Investment Khaldon Mahasen, Manager, Investment Performance Assessment Senegal Centre de Recherches Economiques Appliques (CREA), University of Dakar Aly Mbaye, Director Serbia Center for Advanced Economic Studies, CEVES Vuk Dokovi , Director c Du ko Vasiljevi , Researcher s c Singapore Economic Development Board Lim Hong Khiang, Director Planning 2 Chua Kia Chee, Head, Research and Statistics Unit Slovak Republic Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS) Robert Kicina, Executive Director Slovenia Institute for Economic Research Art Kovacic, Researcher Peter Stanovnik, Senior Researcher University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics Mateja Drnov ek, Assistant Professor s Ale Vahcic, Professor s South Africa Business Leadership South Africa Connie Motshumi, Director Michael Spicer, Chief Executive Officer Business Unity South Africa Jerry Vilakazi, Chief Executive Officer Vic Van Vuuren, Chief Operating Officer Spain IESE Business School, International Center for Competitiveness, Anselmo Rubiralta Center for Globalization and Strategy Eduardo Ballarn, Professor Mara Luisa Blzquez, Research Associate Almudena Clemente Tiemblo, Research Associate Sri Lanka Institute of Policy Studies Indika Siriwardena, Database Manager The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Prema Cooray, Secretary General Suriname Institute for Development Oriented Studies (IDOS) Ashok Hirschfeld, Qualitative Research John R. P. Krishnadath, President Sweden Center for Strategy and Competitiveness, Stockholm School of Economics Christian Ketels, Senior Research Fellow rjan Slvell, Professor

Switzerland University of St. Gallen, Executive School of Management, Technology and Law (ES-HSG) Franz Jaeger, Professor Beat Bechtold, Project Manager Syria Ministry of Economy and Trade Amer Housni Louitfi, Minister of Economy and Trade State Planning Commission Tayseer Al-Ridawi, Head of State Planning Commission UNDP Damascus, Towards Changing the Mindset for Competitiveness Nuhad Dimashkiyyah, National Project Director Taiwan, China Council for Economic Planning and Development, Executive Yuan Tain-Jy Chen, Chairman J. B. Hung, Director, Economic Research Department Chung Chung Shieh, Researcher, Economic Research Department Tajikistan The Center for Sociological Research Zerkalo Qahramon Baqoev, Director Olga Eskina, Researcher Alikul Isoev, Sociologist and Economist Tanzania Economic and Social Research Foundation Irene Alenga, Commissioned Studies Department Haidari Amani, Executive Director and Professor Dennis Rweyemamu, Commissioned Studies Department Thailand Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, Chulalongkorn University Pongsak Hoontrakul, Senior Research Fellow Toemsakdi Krishnamra, Director of Sasin Piyachart Phiromswad, Faculty of Economics Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) Somchai Jitsuchon, Research Director Chalongphob Sussangkarn, Distinguished Fellow Yos Vajragupta, Senior Researcher Timor-Leste Timor-Leste Development Agency (ETDA) Harun Y. Boavida, Survey Field Officer Januario Mok, Survey Supervisor Palmira Pires, Director Trinidad and Tobago Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business Leslie-Ann Hackett, Engagement Manager, Research Narisha Khan, Research Associate Mark Oakley, Acting Executive Director Tunisia Institut Arabe des Chefs dEntreprises Majdi Hassen, Executive Counsellor Chekib Nouira, President Turkey TUSIAD Sabanci University Competitiveness Forum A. Gunduz Ulusoy, Director and Professor Hande Yegenoglu, Project Specialist Uganda Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University Robert Apunyo, Research Associate Delius Asiimwe, Senior Research Fellow Catherine Ssekimpi, Research Associate Ukraine CASE Ukraine, Center for Social and Economic Research Dmytro Boyarchuk, Executive Director Vladimir Dubrovskiy, Senior Economist


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Partner Institutes

United Arab Emirates Economic & Policy Research Unit (EPRU), Zayed University Jay Squalli, Assistant Professor Nico Vellinga, Professor Dubai Competitiveness Council Adel Alfalasi, Director United States US Chamber of Commerce Scott Eisner, Deputy Chief of Staff Cecile Remington, Marketing Manager James Robinson, Senior Vice President and Counselor to the President Uruguay Universidad ORT Isidoro Hodara, Professor Venezuela CONAPRIVenezuelan Council for Investment Promotion Ana Acosta, Economic Analyst Adolfo Castejn, Investor Services Manager Giuseppe Rionero, Economic Affairs Manager Vietnam Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) Dinh Van An, President Phan Thanh Ha, Deputy Director, Department of Macroeconomic Management Pham Hoang Ha, Senior Researcher, Department of Macroeconomic Management Institute for Economic Research of HCMC Nguyen Van Quang, Vice Director Du Phuoc Tan, Head, Department of Urban Development Studies Trieu Thanh Son, Research Fellow Zambia Institute of Economic and Social Research (INESOR), University of Zambia Mutumba M. Bull, Director Patricia Funjika, Staff Development Fellow Jolly Kamwanga, Coordinator Zimbabwe Graduate School of Management, University of Zimbabwe A. M. Hawkins, Professor Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama INCAE Business School, Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development Arturo Condo, Rector Marlene de Estrella, Director of External Relations Luis Reyes, Manager Roy Zuiga, Dean Latvia, Lithuania Stockholm School of Economics in Riga Karlis Kreslins, Executive MBA Program Director Anders Paalzow, Rector

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PrefaceKLAUS SCHWAB Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum

This years Global Competitiveness Report is being released at a time of multiple shocks to the global economy. The subprime mortgage crisis and the ensuing credit crunch, combined with rising inflation worldwide and the consequent slowdown in demand in many advanced economies, has engendered significant uncertainty about the short-term outlook for the world economy. Global growth is slowing, and it is not yet clear when the effects of the present crisis will subside. The financial market crisis that began in early 2007 is almost unprecedented in its impact, having resulted not only in losses in markets and for financial institutions, but also in an erosion of public confidence in the financial sector and among the institutions themselves across the industrialized world. In the meantime, rising energy and commodity prices are having a dual effect on emerging and developing economies: on the one hand, boosting growth; on the other hand creating inflationary pressures that raise the basic cost of living, thus increasing poverty levels. More generally, although the present slowdown was originally expected to be confined mainly to the United States, it is now spreading to other industrialized economies and it is not yet clear what the future will bring for emerging markets. Policymakers are presently struggling with ways of managing these multiple shocks intelligently while preparing their economies to perform well in an economic landscape characterized by growing volatility. In an unstable 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 the past 30 years played a facilitating role in this process, by providing detailed assessments of the productive potential of nations worldwide.The Report is a contribution to enhancing our understanding of the key factors determining economic growth, and explaining why some countries are much more successful than others in raising income levels and opportunities for their respective populations, offering policymakers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms. This years Report is characterized by the continued expansion of our country coverage. Currently featuring a total of 134 economies, it remains the most comprehensive assessment of its kind.The Report contains a detailed profile for each of the economies featured in

the study as well as an extensive section of data tables with global rankings covering over 100 indicators. This Report remains our flagship publication within our Global Competitiveness Network, which groups a number of research studies that truly mirror the increased integration and complexity of the world economy. Concurrent complementary publications include The Global Information Technology Report 20072008,The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008,The Global Enabling Trade Report 2008,The Financial Development Report 2008, and The Global Gender Gap Report 2007. The Global Competitiveness Report could not have been put together without the thought leadership of our distinguished editor, Professor Michael E. Porter, Director of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at the Harvard Business School, and his team Christian Ketels, Richard Bryden, and Mercedes Delgado. Appreciation also goes to Professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin, at Columbia University, for his ongoing intellectual support of our competitiveness research. Appreciation also goes to Fiona Paua, Head of Strategic Insight Teams at the Forum, and Jennifer Blanke, Head of the Global Competitiveness Network, as well as team members Ciara Browne, Agustina Ciocia, Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz,Thierry Geiger, Patrick McGee, Irene Mia, Pearl Samandari, and Eva Trujillo Herrera.We thank FedEx and USAID, our partners in this Report, for their support in this important venture. Finally, we would also like to convey our sincere gratitude to all the business executives around the world, who took the time to participate in our Executive Opinion Survey, and whose valuable inputs made the publication of this Report possible.


Preface

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Part 1The Competitiveness Indexes



CHAPTER 1.1

The Global Competitiveness Index: Prioritizing the Economic Policy AgendaXAVIER SALA-I-MARTIN JENNIFER BLANKE MARGARETA DRZENIEK HANOUZ THIERRY GEIGER IRENE MIA FIONA PAUA World Economic Forum

After several years of rapid and almost unhampered growth, the global economic landscape is changing. Rising food and energy prices, a major international financial crisis, and the related slowdown in the worlds leading economies are confronting policymakers with new economic management challenges.Todays volatility underscores the importance of a competitivenesssupporting economic environment that can help national economies to weather these types of shocks in order to ensure solid economic performance going into the future. A nations level of competitiveness reflects the extent to which it is able to provide rising prosperity to its citizens. Since 1979, the World Economic Forums annual Global Competitiveness Reports have examined the many factors enabling national economies to achieve sustained economic growth and long-term prosperity. Our goal over the years has been to provide benchmarking tools for business leaders and policymakers to identify obstacles to improved competitiveness, stimulating discussion on strategies to overcome them. For the past several years, the World Economic Forum has based its competitiveness analysis on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), a highly comprehensive index for measuring national competitiveness, which captures the microeconomic and macroeconomic foundations of national competitiveness. We define competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the sustainable level of prosperity that can be earned by an economy. In other words, more competitive economies tend to be able to produce higher levels of income for their citizens.The productivity level also determines the rates of return obtained by investments in an economy. Because the rates of return are the fundamental drivers of the growth rates of the economy, a more competitive economy is one that is likely to grow faster over the medium to long run. The concept of competitiveness thus involves static and dynamic components: although the productivity of a country clearly determines its ability to sustain a high level of income, it is also one of the central determinants of the returns to investment, which is one of the key factors explaining an economys growth potential.

The 12 pillars of competitiveness The determinants of competitiveness are many and complex. For hundreds of years, economists have tried to understand what determines the wealth of nations. This attempt has ranged from Adam Smiths focus on specialization and the division of labor to neoclassical economists emphasis on investment in physical capital and infrastructure, and, more recently, to interest in other mechanisms such as education and training, technological progress (whether created within the country or adopted from abroad),1 macroeconomic stability, good governance, the rule of law, transparent and well-functioningThe Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 2008 World Economic Forum

1.1: The Global Competitiveness Index

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institutions, firm sophistication, demand conditions, market size, and many others. Each of these conjectures rests on solid theoretical foundations and makes common sense.The central point, however, is that they are not mutually exclusiveso that two or more of them could be true at the same time. Hundreds of econometric studies show that many of these conjectures are, in fact, simultaneously true.2 This also can partly explain why, despite the present global financial crisis, we do not necessarily see large swings in competitiveness ratings, for example in the United States. Financial markets are only one of several important components of national competitiveness. The GCI captures this open-ended dimension by providing a weighted average of many different components, each of which reflects one aspect of the complex reality that we call competitiveness.We group all these components into 12 pillars of economic competitiveness:First pillar: Institutions

other firms, and the public.6 Private-sector transparency is indispensable to business, and can be brought about through the use of standards as well as auditing and accounting practices that ensure access to information in a timely manner.7Second pillar: Infrastructure

4

The institutional environment forms the framework within which individuals, firms, and governments interact to generate income and wealth in the economy.The institutional framework has a strong bearing on competitiveness and growth.3 It plays a central role in the ways in which societies distribute the benefits and bear the costs of development strategies and policies, and it influences investment decisions and the organization of production. Owners of land, corporate shares, and even intellectual property are unwilling to invest in the improvement and upkeep of their property if their rights as owners are insecure.4 Of equal importance, if property cannot be bought and sold with the confidence that the authorities will endorse the transaction, the market itself will fail to generate dynamic growth. The importance of institutions is not restricted to the legal framework. Government attitudes toward markets and freedoms and the efficiency of its operations are also very important: excessive bureaucracy and red tape,5 overregulation, corruption, dishonesty in dealing with public contracts, lack of transparency and trustworthiness, or the political dependence of the judicial system impose significant economic costs to businesses and slow down the process of economic development. Although the economic literature has mainly focused on public institutions, private institutions are also an important element in the process of creation of wealth.The significant corporate scandals that have occurred over the past few years, and the present global financial crisis, have highlighted the relevance of accounting and reporting standards and transparency for preventing fraud and mismanagement, ensuring good governance, and maintaining investor and consumer confidence. An economy is well served by businesses that are run honestly, where managers abide by strong ethical practices in their dealings with the government,

Extensive and efficient infrastructure is an essential driver of competitiveness. It is critical for ensuring the effective functioning of the economy, as it is an important factor determining the location of economic activity and the kinds of activities or sectors that can develop in a particular economy.Well-developed infrastructure reduces the effect of distance between regions, with the result of truly integrating the national market and connecting it to markets in other countries and regions. In addition, the quality and extensiveness of infrastructure networks significantly impact economic growth and reduce income inequalities and poverty in a variety of ways.8 In this regard, a well-developed transport and communications infrastructure network is a prerequisite for the ability of less-developed communities to connect to core economic activities and schools. Effective modes of transport for goods, people, and servicessuch as quality roads, railroads, ports, and air transportenable entrepreneurs to get their goods to market in a secure and timely manner, and facilitate the movement of workers to the most suitable jobs. Economies also depend on electricity supplies that are free of interruptions and shortages so that businesses and factories can work unimpeded. Finally, a solid and extensive telecommunications network allows for a rapid and free flow of information, which increases overall economic efficiency by helping to ensure that decisions made by economic actors take into account all available relevant information.Third pillar: Macroeconomic stability

The stability of the macroeconomic environment is important for business and, therefore, is important for the overall competitiveness of a country.9 Although it is certainly true that macroeconomic stability alone cannot increase the productivity of a nation, it is also recognized that macroeconomic disarray harms the economy. Firms cannot make informed decisions when inflation is raging out of control.The government cannot provide services efficiently if it has to make high-interest payments on its past debts. In sum, the economy cannot grow unless the macro environment is stable.Fourth pillar: Health and primary education

A healthy workforce is vital to a countrys competitiveness and productivity.Workers who are ill cannot function to their potential, and will be less productive. Poor health leads to significant costs to business, as sick workers are often absent or operate at lower levels of efficiency.


Investment in the provision of health services is thus critical for clear economic, as well as moral, considerations.10 In addition to health, this pillar takes into account the quantity and quality of basic education received by the population, which is increasingly important in todays economy. Basic education increases the efficiency of each individual worker. Moreover, a workforce that has received little formal education can carry out only basic manual work and finds it much more difficult to adapt to more advanced production processes and techniques. Lack of basic education can therefore become a constraint on business development, with firms finding it difficult to move up the value chain by producing more sophisticated or value-intensive products.Fifth pillar: Higher education and training

Seventh pillar: Labor market efficiency

The efficiency and flexibility of the labor market are critical for ensuring that workers are allocated to their most efficient use in the economy, and provided with incentives to give their best effort in their jobs. Labor markets must therefore have the flexibility to shift workers from one economic activity to another rapidly and at low cost, and to allow for wage fluctuations without much social disruption. Efficient labor markets must also ensure a clear relationship between worker incentives and their efforts, as well as the best use of available talent which includes equity in the business environment between women and men.Eighth pillar: Financial market sophistication

Quality higher education and training is crucial for economies that want to move up the value chain beyond simple production processes and products.11 In particular, todays globalizing economy requires economies to nurture pools of well-educated workers who are able to adapt rapidly to their changing environment.This pillar measures secondary and tertiary enrollment rates as well as the quality of education as assessed by the business community.The extent of staff training is also taken into consideration because of the importance of vocational and continuous on-the-job trainingwhich is neglected in many economiesfor ensuring a constant upgrading of workers skills to the changing needs of the evolving economy.Sixth pillar: Goods market efficiency

Countries with efficient goods markets are well positioned to produce the right mix of products and services given supply-and-demand conditions, as well as to ensure that these goods can be most effectively traded in the economy. Healthy market competition, both domestic and foreign, is important in driving market efficiency and thus business productivity, by ensuring that the most efficient firms, producing goods demanded by the market, are those that thrive.The best possible environment for the exchange of goods requires a minimum of impediments to business activity through government intervention to be in place. For example, competitiveness is hindered by distortionary or burdensome taxes, and by restrictive and discriminatory rules on foreign ownership or foreign direct investment (FDI). Market efficiency also depends on demand conditions such as customer orientation and buyer sophistication. For cultural reasons, customers in some countries may be more demanding than in others. This can create an important competitive advantage, as it forces companies to be more innovative and customeroriented and thus imposes the discipline necessary for efficiency to be achieved in the market.

The present global financial crisis has highlighted the critical importance of financial markets for the functioning of national economies. An efficient financial sector is necessary to allocate the resources saved by a nations citizens as well as those entering the economy from abroad to their most productive uses. It channels resources to the entrepreneurial or investment projects with the highest expected rates of return, rather than to the politically connected. A thorough assessment of risk is therefore a key ingredient. Business investment is critical to productivity. Therefore economies require sophisticated financial markets that can make capital available for private-sector investment from such sources as loans from a sound banking sector, well-regulated securities exchanges, venture capital, and other financial products. An efficient financial sector also ensures that innovators with good ideas have the financial resources to turn those ideas into commercially viable products and services. In order to fulfill all those functions, the banking sector needs to be trustworthy and transparent.12Ninth pillar: Technological readiness

This pillar measures the agility with which an economy adopts existing technologies to enhance the productivity of its industries.13 In todays globalized world, technology has increasingly become an important element for firms to compete and prosper. In particular, information and communication technologies (ICT) have evolved into the general purpose technology of our time,14 given the critical spillovers to the other economic sectors and their role as efficient infrastructure for commercial transactions.Therefore ICT access (including the presence of an ICT-friendly regulatory framework) and usage are included in the pillar as essential components of economies overall level of technological readiness. Whether the technology used has or has not been developed within national borders is irrelevant for its effect on competitiveness.The central point is that the firms operating in the country have access to advanced products and blueprints and the ability to use them. That is, it does not matter whether the personal



5


computer or the Internet was invented in a particular country.What is important is that these inventions are available to the business community.This does not mean that the process of innovation is irrelevant. However, the level of technology available to firms in a country needs to be distinguished from the countrys ability to innovate and expand the frontiers of knowledge.That is why we separate technological readiness from innovation, which is captured in the 12th pillar below.Tenth pillar: Market size

Twelfth pillar: Innovation

6

The size of the market affects productivity because large markets allow firms to exploit economies of scale. Traditionally, the markets available to firms have been constrained by national borders. In the era of globalization, international markets have become a substitute for domestic markets, especially for small countries.There is vast empirical evidence that shows that trade openness is positively associated with growth. Even if some recent research casts doubts on the robustness of this relationship, the general sense is that trade has a positive effect on growth, especially for countries with small domestic markets.15 Thus, exports can be thought of as a substitute for domestic demand in determining the size of the market for the firms of a country.16 By including both domestic and foreign markets in our measure of market size, we give credit to export-driven economies and geographic areas (such as the European Union) that are broken into many countries but have one common market.Eleventh pillar: Business sophistication

The last pillar of competitiveness is technological innovation. Although substantial gains can be obtained by improving institutions, building infrastructures, reducing macroeconomic instability, or improving the human capital of the population, all these factors eventually seem to run into diminishing returns.The same is true for the efficiency of the labor, financial, and goods markets. In the long run, standards of living can be expanded only with technological innovation. Innovation is particularly important for economies as they approach the frontiers of knowledge and the possibility of integrating and adapting exogenous technologies tends to disappear.17 Although less-advanced countries can still improve their productivity by adopting existing technologies or making incremental improvements in other areas, for countries that have reached the innovation stage of development, this is no longer sufficient to increase productivity. Firms in these countries must design and develop cutting-edge products and processes to maintain a competitive edge.This requires an environment that is conducive to innovative activity, supported by both the public and the private sectors. In particular, this means sufficient investment in research and development (R&D) especially by the private sector, the presence of high-quality scientific research institutions, extensive collaboration in research between universities and industry, and the protection of intellectual property.The interrelation of the 12 pillars

Business sophistication is conducive to higher efficiency in the production of goods and services.This leads, in turn, to increased productivity, thus enhancing a nations competitiveness. Business sophistication concerns the quality of a countrys overall business networks as well as the quality of individual firms operations and strategies. It is particularly important for countries at an advanced stage of development, when the more basic sources of productivity improvements have been exhausted to a large extent. The quality of a countrys business networks and supporting industries, which we capture by using variables on the quantity and quality of local suppliers and the extent of their interaction, is important for a variety of reasons.When companies and suppliers from a particular sector are interconnected in geographically proximate groups (clusters), efficiency is heightened, greater opportunities for innovation are created, and barriers to entry for new firms are reduced. Individual firms operations and strategies (branding, marketing, the presence of a value chain, and the production of unique and sophisticated products) all lead to sophisticated and modern business processes.

Although the 12 pillars of competitiveness are described separately, this should not obscure the fact that they are not independent: not only they are related to each other, but they tend to reinforce each other. For example, innovation (12th pillar) is not possible in a world without institutions (1st pillar) that guarantee intellectual property rights, cannot be performed in countries with poorly educated and poorly trained labor force (5th pillar), and will never take place in economies with inefficient markets (6th, 7th, and 8th pillars) or without extensive and efficient infrastructure (2nd pillar). Although the actual construction of the Index will involve the aggregation of the 12 pillars into a single index, measures are reported for the 12 pillars separately because offering a more disaggregated analysis can be more useful to countries and practitioners: such an analysis gets closer to the actual areas in which a particular country needs to improve.


Figure 1: The 12 pillars of competitiveness

Basic requirements Institutions Infrastructure Macroeconomic stability Health and primary education Key for

factor-driveneconomies

Efficiency enhancers Higher education and training Goods market efficiency Labor market efficiency Financial market sophistication Technological readiness Market size Key for

efficiency-driveneconomies

Innovation and sophistication factors Business sophistication Innovation

Key for

innovation-driveneconomies

Stages of development and the weighted Index It is clear that different pillars affect different countries differently: the best way for Chad to improve its competitiveness is not the same as the best way for the United States.This is because Chad and the United States are in different stages of development: as countries move along the development path, wages tend to increase and, in order to sustain this higher income, labor productivity must improve.18 According to the GCI, in the first stage, the economy is factor-driven and countries compete based on their factor endowments, primarily unskilled labor and natural resources. Companies compete on the basis of price and sell basic products or commodities, with their low productivity reflected in low wages. Maintaining competitiveness at this stage of development hinges primarily on well-functioning public and private institutions (pillar 1), well-developed infrastructure (pillar 2), a stable macroeconomic framework (pillar 3), and a healthy and literate workforce (pillar 4). As wages rise with advancing development, countries move into the efficiency-driven stage of development, when they must begin to develop more efficient production processes and increase product quality. At this point, competitiveness is increasingly driven by higher education and training (pillar 5), efficient goods markets (pillar 6), well-functioning labor markets (pillar 7),

sophisticated financial markets (pillar 8), a large domestic or foreign market (pillar 10), and the ability to harness the benefits of existing technologies (pillar 9). Finally, as countries move into the innovation-driven stage, they are able to sustain higher wages and the associated standard of living only if their businesses are able to compete with new and unique products. At this stage, companies must compete through innovation (pillar 12), producing new and different goods using the most sophisticated production processes (pillar 11). The concept of stages of development is integrated into the Index by attributing higher relative weights to those pillars that are relatively more relevant for a country given its particular stage of development.That is, although all 12 pillars matter to a certain extent for all countries, the importance of each one depends on a countrys particular stage of development.To take this into account, the pillars are organized into three subindexes, each critical to a particular stage of development.The basic requirements subindex groups those pillars most critical for countries in the factor-driven stage.The efficiency enhancers subindex includes those pillars critical for countries in the efficiency-driven stage. And the innovation and sophistication factors subindex includes the pillars critical to countries in the innovation-driven stage.The three subindexes are shown in Figure 1.



7


The specific weights we attribute to each subindex in every stage of development are shown in Table 1.To obtain the precise weights, a maximum likelihood regression of GDP per capita was run against each subindex for past years, allowing for different coefficients for each stage of development.19 The rounding of these econometric estimates led to the choice of weights displayed in Table 1.

those countries that are not preparing for the next stage. The classification of countries into stages of development is shown in Table 3.

Table 1: Weights of the three main groups of pillars at each stage of developmentFactordriven stage (%) Efficiencydriven stage (%) Innovationdriven stage (%)

Pillar group

Country coverage Four new economies have been included in the analysis: Brunei Darussalam, Cte dIvoire, Ghana, and Malawi (reintroduced after a one-year absence). On the other hand, one country covered last year, Uzbekistan, is not covered this year because of a lack of Survey data.This has led to a net increase in country coverage, for a total of 134 economies this year. Appendix A describes the exact composition of the GCI and technical details of its construction.

Basic requirements Efficiency enhancers Innovation and sophistication factors

60 35 5

40 50 10

20 50 30

8

Implementation of stages of development: Smooth transitions Countries are allocated to stages of development based on two criteria.The first criterion is the level of GDP per capita at market exchange rates.This widely available measure is used as a proxy for wages, as internationally comparable data for the latter are not available for all countries covered.The precise thresholds are shown in Table 2. A second criterion measures the extent to which countries are factor driven.We proxy this by the share of exports of primary goods in total exports (goods and services) and assume that countries that export more than 70 percent of primary products are to a large extent factor driven.20

The Global Competitiveness Index 20082009 rankings The detailed rankings from this years GCI are shown in Tables 4 through 8. As Table 4 shows, almost all of the countries in the top 10 remain the same as last year, with some small shifts in rank.The following sections reference the findings of the GCI 20082009 for the top performers globally, as well as for a number of selected economies in each of the five following regions: Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.Top 10

Table 2: Income thresholds for establishing stages of developmentStage of Development GDP per capita (in US$)

Stage 1: Factor driven

Transition from stage 1 to stage 2 Stage 2: Efficiency driven Transition from stage 2 to stage 3 Stage 3: Innovation driven

< 2,000 2,0003,000 3,0009,000 9,00017,000 > 17,000

Countries falling in between two of the three stages are considered to be in transition. For these countries, the weights change smoothly as a country develops, reflecting the smooth transition from one stage of development to another. By introducing this type of transition between stages into the modelthat is, by placing increasingly more weight on those areas that are becoming more important for the countrys competitiveness as the country developsthe index can gradually penalize

Notwithstanding the present financial crisis, the United States continues to be the most competitive economy in the world, a position it has held for several years.This is because the country is endowed with many structural features that make its economy extremely productive and that place it on a strong footing to ride out business cycle shifts and economic shocks.Thus, despite rising concerns about the soundness of the banking sector and macroeconomic weaknesses, the countrys many other strengths continue to make it a very productive environment.The United States is followed by Switzerland, Denmark, and Sweden, composing the same top four countries as last year. The United States is home to highly sophisticated and innovative companies operating in very efficient factor markets.The country is also endowed with an excellent university system that collaborates strongly with the business sector in R&D. Combined with the scale opportunities afforded by the sheer size of its domestic economy, the largest in the world by far, these qualities make the United States the most competitive economy in the world. The United States is ranked 1st on the innovation pillar, with the worlds top-rated scientific research institutions, high company spending on R&D (ranked 3rd), and significant collaboration between the business and university sectors in research (ranked 1st).The countrys markets support this innovative activity through their


Table 3: List of countries/economies at each stage of developmentStage 1 Transition from 1 to 2 Stage 2 Transition from 2 to 3 Stage 3

Bangladesh Benin Bolivia Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Chad Cte dIvoire Egypt Ethiopia Gambia, The Ghana Guyana Honduras India Indonesia Kenya Kyrgyz Republic Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Moldova Mongolia Mozambique Nepal Nicaragua Nigeria Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Senegal Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Timor-Leste Uganda Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe

Armenia Azerbaijan Botswana Brunei Darussalam China El Salvador Georgia Guatemala Iran Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Libya Morocco Oman Saudi Arabia Venezuela

Albania Algeria Argentina Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Jamaica Macedonia, FYR Malaysia Mauritius Mexico Montenegro Namibia Panama Peru Romania Serbia South Africa Suriname Thailand Tunisia Ukraine Uruguay

Bahrain Barbados Chile Croatia Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Poland Qatar Russian Federation Slovak Republic Taiwan, China Trinidad and Tobago Turkey

Australia Austria Belgium Canada Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong SAR Iceland Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea, Rep. Luxembourg Malta Netherlands New Zealand Norway Portugal Puerto Rico Singapore Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States

efficient allocation of human and financial resources to their most effective use. In particular, labor markets are ranked 1st out of all countries, characterized by the ease and affordability of hiring workers and significant wage flexibility.The countrys goods markets are also characterized by low levels of distortion within the context of a very competitive environment, providing consumers with a large selection of quality goods and services at reasonable prices, supplied in a timely manner. Financial markets are also rated as highly efficient, although in the context of the present financial crisis there has been a weakening of confidence in the financial sector, particularly the soundness of banks (40th this year, as opposed to 26th in 2007). Although the country is thus very competitive overall, there are some weaknesses in more basic areas. Some aspects of its public institutions could be strength-


ened, with particular concerns on the part of the business community about the governments ability to maintain arms-length relationships with the private sector (40th), and in the perception that the government spends its resources wastefully (66th).The business costs of terrorism and of crime and violence more generally are also points of concern. But the countrys greatest weakness is related to its macroeconomic stability, where it ranks a low 67th overall.The United States has built up large macroeconomic imbalances over recent years, with repeated fiscal deficits leading to rising and burgeoning levels of public indebtedness (reaching more than 60 percent of GDP by 2007, placing the country 102nd on this indicator).This indicates that the country is not preparing financially for its future liabilities and interest payments will increasingly restrict its fiscal policy freedom going into the future.


9


Table 4: Global Competitiveness Index rankings and 20072008 comparisonsGCI 2008 2009 rank (among 2007 countries)* GCI 20072008 rank GCI 2008 2009 rank (among 2007 countries)* GCI 20072008 rank

GCI 20082009 Country/Economy Rank Score

GCI 20082009 Country/Economy Rank Score

10

United States Switzerland Denmark Sweden Singapore Finland Germany Netherlands Japan Canada Hong Kong SAR United Kingdom Korea, Rep. Austria Norway France Taiwan, China Australia Belgium Iceland Malaysia Ireland Israel New Zealand Luxembourg Qatar Saudi Arabia Chile Spain China United Arab Emirates Estonia Czech Republic Thailand Kuwait Tunisia Bahrain Oman Brunei Darussalam Cyprus Puerto Rico Slovenia Portugal Lithuania South Africa Slovak Republic Barbados Jordan Italy India Russian Federation Malta Poland Latvia Indonesia Botswana Mauritius Panama Costa Rica Mexico Croatia Hungary Turkey Brazil Montenegro Kazakhstan Greece Romania

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

5.74 5.61 5.58 5.53 5.53 5.50 5.46 5.41 5.38 5.37 5.33 5.30 5.28 5.23 5.22 5.22 5.22 5.20 5.14 5.05 5.04 4.99 4.97 4.93 4.85 4.83 4.72 4.72 4.72 4.70 4.68 4.67 4.62 4.60 4.58 4.58 4.57 4.55 4.54 4.53 4.51 4.50 4.47 4.45 4.41 4.40 4.40 4.37 4.35 4.33 4.31 4.31 4.28 4.26 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.24 4.23 4.23 4.22 4.22 4.15 4.13 4.11 4.11 4.11 4.10

The Global

* One country that was included last year is not shown because of the lack of Survey data (Uzbekistan). This explains why the lowest rank in this column is 130, 2008 World Competitiveness(Contd.) 2008-2009 rather than 131. Economic Forum Report

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 n/a 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

1 2 3 4 7 6 5 10 8 13 12 9 11 15 16 18 14 19 20 23 21 22 17 24 25 31 35 26 29 34 37 27 33 28 30 32 43 42 n/a 55 36 39 40 38 44 41 50 49 46 48 58 56 51 45 54 76 60 59 63 52 57 47 53 72 82 61 65 74

Azerbaijan Vietnam Philippines Ukraine Morocco Colombia Uruguay Bulgaria Sri Lanka Syria El Salvador Namibia Egypt Honduras Peru Guatemala Serbia Jamaica Gambia, The Argentina Macedonia, FYR Georgia Libya Trinidad and Tobago Kenya Nigeria Moldova Senegal Armenia Dominican Republic Algeria Mongolia Pakistan Ghana Suriname Ecuador Venezuela Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania Cambodia Cte dIvoire Bangladesh Zambia Tanzania Cameroon Guyana Tajikistan Mali Bolivia Malawi Nicaragua Ethiopia Kyrgyz Republic Lesotho Paraguay Madagascar Nepal Burkina Faso Uganda Timor-Leste Mozambique Mauritania Burundi Zimbabwe Chad

69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134

4.10 4.10 4.09 4.09 4.08 4.05 4.04 4.03 4.02 3.99 3.99 3.99 3.98 3.98 3.95 3.94 3.90 3.89 3.88 3.87 3.87 3.86 3.85 3.85 3.84 3.81 3.75 3.73 3.73 3.72 3.71 3.65 3.65 3.62 3.58 3.58 3.56 3.56 3.56 3.55 3.53 3.51 3.51 3.49 3.49 3.48 3.47 3.46 3.43 3.42 3.42 3.41 3.41 3.40 3.40 3.40 3.38 3.37 3.36 3.35 3.15 3.15 3.14 2.98 2.88 2.85

68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 n/a 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 n/a 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 n/a 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130

66 68 71 73 64 69 75 79 70 80 67 89 77 83 86 87 91 78 102 85 94 90 88 84 99 95 97 100 93 96 81 101 92 n/a 113 103 98 108 106 109 110 n/a 107 122 104 116 126 117 115 105 n/a 111 123 119 124 121 118 114 112 120 127 128 125 130 129 131

Switzerland retains the same ranking as last year, second only to the United States. Similar to the United States, Switzerlands economy is characterized by an excellent capacity for innovation and a very sophisticated business culture, ranked 2nd for its business sophistication and 3rd for its innovation capacity.The country is characterized by high spending on R&D. Switzerlands scientific research institutions are among the worlds best, and the strong collaboration between the academic and business sectors ensures that much of this research is translated into marketable products and processes, buttressed by strong intellectual property protection.This strong innovative capacity is captured by the high rate of patenting in the country, for which Switzerland ranks 6th worldwide on a per capita basis. Switzerlands public institutions are rated among the most effective and transparent in the world (4th), ensuring a level playing field and enhancing business confidence, including an independent judiciary, a strong rule of law, and strong accountability of the public sector. Competitiveness is also buttressed by excellent infrastructure and labor markets that are among the most flexible in the world, both ranked 3rd overall. And Switzerlands macroeconomic environment receives excellent marks (ranked 10th), attributable to a government budget surplus, high national savings, low interest rates, and low inflation at a time when inflation is rising around the world. On the other hand, the relatively low university enrollment ratejust shy of 46 percentplaces the country 45th on this indicator. Efforts should be made to boost higher education attainment to provide more home-grown talent with the necessary skills for innovative activities. The Nordic members of the European Union continue to hold privileged positions in the rankings. Denmark is ranked 3rd, with Sweden and Finland following closely at 4th and 6th places, respectively, the same rankings as last year for all three countries. As in past years, the Nordic countries outperform the United States in a number of areas. For example, like Switzerland they receive among the best marks worldwide in terms of the macroeconomic environment, as they are also running healthy budget surpluses and have achieved very low levels of public indebtedness.The three countries have among the best functioning and most transparent institutions in the world, ranked only behind Singapore on this pillar. Given the significant focus that the Nordic countries have placed on higher education and training over recent decades, it is not surprising that Finland, Denmark, and Sweden continue to occupy the top three positions in the higher education and training pillar.This has provided the workforce with the skills needed to adapt rapidly to a changing environment and has laid the ground for their high levels of technological adoption and innovation in recent years.

A marked difference among these three countries relates to labor market flexibility.While Denmark (ranked 4th) distinguishes itself as having one of the most flexible and efficient labor markets internationally, in Finland and Sweden, as is the case in a number of other European countries, companies have little flexibility in setting wages, nonwage labor costs remain very high, and firing and therefore hiring workers is deemed excessively expensive. Singapore, at 5th place, is the top-ranked country from Asia on the strength of its institutional environment, moving up two places from last year as a result of a strengthening across all aspects of the institutional framework. Singapore also places among the top two countries for the efficiency of all of its marketsgoods, labor, and financialensuring the proper allocation of these factors to their best use. Singapore also has worldclass infrastructure, leading the world in the quality of its port and air transport facilities. But Singapores overall ranking is constrained by its domestic market size and mixed performance in the macroeconomic stability pillar, where it ranks 59th and 121st for its interest rate spread and government debt, respectively. Germany remains among the top-10 ranked countries, although it slips two positions to 7th place. The country is ranked 1st for the quality of infrastructure, with particularly good marks for its transport and telephony infrastructure.The efficiency of its goods and financial markets is another strength, buttressed by a very high level of business sophistication (ranked 1st on this pillar), although it should be noted that there has been a measurable decline in the business sectors assessment of the countrys financial markets over the past year.These attributes allow Germany to benefit greatly from its significant market size (ranked 4th on this pillar). On the other hand, Germanys labor market continues to be very rigid (ranked 122nd on the labor market flexibility subpillar), where a lack of flexibility in wage determination, high nonwage labor costs, and the cost of firing provide a hindrance to job creation. The Netherlands moves up two spots to 8th place and rounds out the list of the European countries in the top 10.The countrys companies are highly sophisticated and are the most aggressive internationally in absorbing new technologies (ranked 1st for its technological readiness), buttressed by an excellent educational system and extremely efficient factor markets.The improvement in the rankings can be traced mainly to an even better assessment than last year of the functioning of its markets.The labor market in the Netherlands is notably efficient compared with the situation in many other European economies, and its goods market is ranked 3rd for its excellent functioning. Japan, at 9th place, enjoys a major competitive edge in the areas of business sophistication and innovation, characterized by a high availability of scientists and engineers, high company spending on R&D, and an



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Table 5: The Global Competitiveness Index 20082009SUBINDEXES OVERALL INDEX Country/Economy Rank Score Basic requirements Rank Score Efficiency enhancers Rank Score Innovation factors Rank Score

12

United States Switzerland Denmark Sweden Singapore Finland Germany Netherlands Japan Canada Hong Kong SAR United Kingdom Korea, Rep. Austria Norway France Taiwan, China Australia Belgium Iceland Malaysia Ireland Israel New Zealand Luxembourg Qatar Saudi Arabia Chile Spain China United Arab Emirates Estonia Czech Republic Thailand Kuwait Tunisia Bahrain Oman Brunei Darussalam Cyprus Puerto Rico Slovenia Portugal Lithuania South Africa Slovak Republic Barbados Jordan Italy India Russian Federation Malta Poland Latvia Indonesia Botswana Mauritius Panama Costa Rica Mexico Croatia Hungary Turkey Brazil Montenegro Kazakhstan Greece

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

5.74 5.61 5.58 5.53 5.53 5.50 5.46 5.41 5.38 5.37 5.33 5.30 5.28 5.23 5.22 5.22 5.22 5.20 5.14 5.05 5.04 4.99 4.97 4.93 4.85 4.83 4.72 4.72 4.72 4.70 4.68 4.67 4.62 4.60 4.58 4.58 4.57 4.55 4.54 4.53 4.51 4.50 4.47 4.45 4.41 4.40 4.40 4.37 4.35 4.33 4.31 4.31 4.28 4.26 4.25 4.25 4.25 4.24 4.23 4.23 4.22 4.22 4.15 4.13 4.11 4.11 4.11

22 2 4 6 3 1 7 10 26 8 5 24 16 9 14 13 20 15 18 11 25 32 41 19 12 21 34 36 27 42 17 30 45 43 39 35 28 31 29 23 44 38 37 46 69 52 33 47 58 80 56 40 70 55 76 53 50 54 63 60 49 64 72 96 59 74 51

5.50 6.14 6.14 6.00 6.14 6.18 5.96 5.81 5.36 5.84 6.05 5.46 5.71 5.81 5.76 5.76 5.53 5.75 5.60 5.80 5.42 5.24 5.06 5.58 5.78 5.50 5.21 5.15 5.34 5.01 5.67 5.27 4.85 4.97 5.12 5.17 5.31 5.25 5.30 5.48 4.96 5.13 5.14 4.84 4.41 4.66 5.23 4.80 4.53 4.23 4.54 5.08 4.39 4.63 4.25 4.65 4.67 4.64 4.45 4.47 4.69 4.43 4.34 3.98 4.52 4.29 4.66

1 8 3 9 2 13 11 7 12 5 6 4 15 20 14 16 18 10 21 22 24 19 23 17 27 31 45 30 25 40 29 26 28 36 52 53 46 61 77 39 38 37 34 43 35 32 56 63 42 33 50 44 41 47 49 82 66 67 60 55 62 48 59 51 72 64 57

5.81 5.35 5.49 5.35 5.52 5.21 5.22 5.38 5.22 5.44 5.43 5.45 5.15 5.03 5.19 5.09 5.06 5.31 5.02 4.89 4.82 5.05 4.84 5.07 4.69 4.53 4.35 4.58 4.75 4.41 4.64 4.73 4.67 4.45 4.19 4.19 4.32 4.09 3.84 4.43 4.44 4.45 4.47 4.37 4.46 4.52 4.16 4.07 4.38 4.49 4.29 4.35 4.39 4.31 4.29 3.76 4.03 4.02 4.09 4.16 4.08 4.31 4.10 4.28 3.95 4.05 4.16

1 2 7 6 11 5 4 9 3 16 21 17 10 12 18 14 8 22 15 19 23 20 13 28 24 35 37 44 29 32 38 40 25 46 52 30 54 48 87 41 26 33 43 49 36 53 51 47 31 27 73 56 61 84 45 98 69 58 39 70 62 55 63 42 88 77 68

5.80 5.68 5.37 5.53 5.16 5.53 5.54 5.20 5.65 4.96 4.69 4.93 5.20 5.16 4.91 5.08 5.26 4.66 5.02 4.82 4.63 4.72 5.10 4.26 4.51 4.14 4.09 4.00 4.25 4.18 4.09 4.06 4.37 3.91 3.82 4.21 3.76 3.87 3.35 4.05 4.32 4.15 4.03 3.87 4.13 3.80 3.84 3.90 4.19 4.29 3.56 3.74 3.70 3.39 3.98 3.22 3.65 3.71 4.07 3.60 3.70 3.75 3.70 4.04 3.33 3.50 3.65


(Contd.)

Table 5: The Global Competitiveness Index 20082009 (contd.)SUBINDEXES OVERALL INDEX Country/Economy Rank Score Basic requirements Rank Score Efficiency enhancers Rank Score Innovation factors Rank Score

Romania Azerbaijan Vietnam Philippines Ukraine Morocco Colombia Uruguay Bulgaria Sri Lanka Syria El Salvador Namibia Egypt Honduras Peru Guatemala Serbia Jamaica Gambia, The Argentina Macedonia, FYR Georgia Libya Trinidad and Tobago Kenya Nigeria Moldova Senegal Armenia Dominican Republic Algeria Mongolia Pakistan Ghana Suriname Ecuador Venezuela Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania Cambodia Cte dIvoire Bangladesh Zambia Tanzania Cameroon Guyana Tajikistan Mali Bolivia Malawi Nicaragua Ethiopia Kyrgyz Republic Lesotho Paraguay Madagascar Nepal Burkina Faso Uganda Timor-Leste Mozambique Mauritania Burundi Zimbabwe Chad

68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134

4.10 4.10 4.10 4.09 4.09 4.08 4.05 4.04 4.03 4.02 3.99 3.99 3.99 3.98 3.98 3.95 3.94 3.90 3.89 3.88 3.87 3.87 3.86 3.85 3.85 3.84 3.81 3.75 3.73 3.73 3.72 3.71 3.65 3.65 3.62 3.58 3.58 3.56 3.56 3.56 3.55 3.53 3.51 3.51 3.49 3.49 3.48 3.47 3.46 3.43 3.42 3.42 3.41 3.41 3.40 3.40 3.40 3.38 3.37 3.36 3.35 3.15 3.15 3.14 2.98 2.88 2.85

87 62 79 85 86 67 77 57 82 92 71 66 48 83 78 94 84 88 97 81 89 68 91 75 65 104 105 95 101 93 99 61 102 110 106 73 90 111 103 98 100 107 113 117 121 114 109 115 112 116 108 127 122 119 124 118 123 125 120 126 129 128 131 130 132 134 133

4.15 4.45 4.23 4.17 4.15 4.42 4.24 4.53 4.20 4.07 4.38 4.43 4.71 4.18 4.24 4.02 4.17 4.15 3.95 4.22 4.12 4.42 4.07 4.27 4.43 3.80 3.74 3.99 3.88 4.04 3.90 4.46 3.87 3.67 3.74 4.31 4.12 3.65 3.81 3.93 3.89 3.72 3.64 3.57 3.54 3.61 3.67 3.60 3.65 3.58 3.68 3.43 3.54 3.56 3.49 3.57 3.51 3.49 3.55 3.43 3.34 3.42 3.21 3.28 3.14 2.88 2.96

54 79 73 68 58 85 70 83 65 74 104 84 93 88 91 69 86 78 75 107 81 92 87 114 80 76 71 98 96 103 90 113 105 89 95 127 117 94 123 102 99 115 109 97 100 108 120 112 124 122 128 101 116 121 110 125 111 119 126 118 106 132 129 130 133 131 134

4.18 3.82 3.94 4.02 4.12 3.73 3.96 3.76 4.05 3.92 3.41 3.75 3.57 3.70 3.62 4.01 3.72 3.82 3.91 3.36 3.76 3.58 3.72 3.29 3.78 3.90 3.96 3.48 3.48 3.41 3.64 3.29 3.39 3.67 3.49 3.11 3.27 3.55 3.20 3.42 3.44 3.28 3.33 3.48 3.43 3.34 3.22 3.31 3.19 3.20 3.10 3.42 3.27 3.21 3.33 3.16 3.31 3.23 3.12 3.25 3.37 2.77 3.09 2.91 2.73 2.87 2.69

75 57 71 67 66 76 60 82 92 34 80 96 104 74 89 83 65 91 72 78 81 105 109 102 79 50 64 128 59 113 86 126 119 85 107 117 118 116 100 129 130 112 94 115 93 106 108 111 103 99 134 101 124 114 123 110 132 97 121 95 90 133 127 120 125 122 131

3.53 3.72 3.59 3.65 3.66 3.51 3.71 3.42 3.30 4.14 3.45 3.24 3.16 3.54 3.32 3.40 3.69 3.30 3.57 3.48 3.43 3.16 3.07 3.16 3.47 3.87 3.69 2.83 3.71 3.03 3.38 2.85 2.94 3.39 3.09 2.97 2.95 2.98 3.21 2.80 2.74 3.04 3.27 2.98 3.29 3.12 3.08 3.04 3.16 3.21 2.59 3.20 2.86 2.98 2.90 3.06 2.69 3.22 2.91 3.27 3.32 2.62 2.84 2.93 2.85 2.90 2.70



13


Table 6: The Global Competitiveness Index: Basic requirementsPILLARS BASIC REQUIREMENTS Country/Economy Rank Score 1. Institutions Rank Score 2. Infrastructure Rank Score 3. Macroeconomic stability Rank Score 4. Health and primary education Rank Score

14

Albania Algeria Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Chad Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Cte dIvoire Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Estonia Ethiopia Finland France Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Guyana Honduras Hong Kong SAR Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, Rep. Kuwait Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Lesotho

100 61 89 93 15 9 62 28 117 33 18 103 108 98 53 96 29 82 126 132 107 109 8 133 36 42 77 63 113 49 23 45 4 99 90 83 66 30 119 1 13 81 91 7 106 51 84 115 78 5 64 11 80 76 32 41 58 97 26 47 74 104 16 39 124 55 118

3.89 4.46 4.12 4.04 5.75 5.81 4.45 5.31 3.57 5.23 5.60 3.81 3.68 3.93 4.65 3.98 5.30 4.20 3.43 3.14 3.72 3.67 5.84 2.96 5.15 5.01 4.24 4.45 3.64 4.69 5.48 4.85 6.14 3.90 4.12 4.18 4.43 5.27 3.56 6.18 5.76 4.22 4.07 5.96 3.74 4.66 4.17 3.60 4.24 6.05 4.43 5.80 4.23 4.25 5.24 5.06 4.53 3.95 5.36 4.80 4.29 3.80 5.71 5.12 3.49 4.63 3.57

109 102 128 96 12 11 62 31 127 20 21 85 131 123 36 91 41 111 75 124 103 116 15 133 37 56 87 50 130 74 24 72 3 119 129 52 100 33 77 2 23 38 69 14 63 58 98 117 82 9 64 6 53 68 17 47 84 86 26 27 81 93 28 48 122 60 114

3.32 3.45 2.94 3.50 5.72 5.72 4.05 4.89 2.98 5.19 5.15 3.67 2.66 3.06 4.73 3.56 4.65 3.28 3.82 3.03 3.44 3.24 5.50 2.54 4.73 4.18 3.66 4.35 2.82 3.82 5.03 3.87 6.18 3.14 2.92 4.25 3.46 4.85 3.80 6.18 5.10 4.73 3.89 5.65 4.02 4.10 3.48 3.23 3.69 5.78 3.94 5.93 4.23 3.89 5.39 4.53 3.68 3.66 4.99 4.98 3.71 3.54 4.95 4.46 3.06 4.05 3.26

121 84 87 90 21 10 61 28 122 24 16 106 126 123 52 78 39 95 104 129 97 117 6 134 30 47 80 94 73 51 25 50 8 81 108 60 56 40 103 9 2 62 77 1 82 45 71 98 75 5 57 17 72 86 53 37 54 67 11 44 76 91 15 49 111 58 125

2.22 2.96 2.92 2.87 5.33 5.86 3.70 4.77 2.21 5.21 5.62 2.56 2.10 2.20 3.96 3.15 4.45 2.79 2.57 2.05 2.77 2.32 6.12 1.65 4.59 4.22 3.07 2.80 3.33 3.98 5.17 4.11 6.01 3.05 2.54 3.74 3.90 4.44 2.66 5.94 6.54 3.68 3.23 6.65 2.98 4.28 3.47 2.76 3.29 6.32 3.85 5.60 3.38 2.95 3.95 4.48 3.94 3.54 5.80 4.30 3.26 2.86 5.63 4.16 2.51 3.81 2.14

96 5 64 83 28 44 45 20 101 114 60 95 77 57 22 122 2 54 120 124 105 34 43 97 14 11 88 85 69 61 46 42 12 78 16 125 62 23 119 8 65 99 118 40 121 106 87 133 89 3 115 56 109 72 47 59 100 130 98 111 74 107 4 1 128 71 39

4.56 6.08 5.05 4.73 5.66 5.36 5.35 5.78 4.46 4.21 5.14 4.60 4.83 5.15 5.73 3.89 6.33 5.21 3.93 3.76 4.39 5.47 5.36 4.54 5.90 5.95 4.71 4.73 4.93 5.10 5.33 5.37 5.92 4.80 5.88 3.56 5.10 5.72 4.00 6.01 5.04 4.51 4.02 5.42 3.91 4.37 4.72 2.84 4.67 6.26 4.20 5.17 4.32 4.91 5.33 5.15 4.46 3.25 4.53 4.24 4.87 4.37 6.15 6.51 3.31 4.91 5.42

69 76 61 97 15 13 102 45 105 10 3 110 93 82 112 79 47 68 131 124 111 125 6 134 73 50 67 37 127 41 7 29 4 106 92 88 86 28 123 1 9 119 91 24 115 40 99 62 83 43 49 2 100 87 14 25 30 77 22 56 81 108 26 75 96 48 129

5.47 5.34 5.58 5.06 6.27 6.28 4.72 5.82 4.63 6.32 6.50 4.40 5.13 5.30 4.17 5.31 5.79 5.53 3.42 3.70 4.27 3.66 6.39 3.09 5.37 5.71 5.53 5.92 3.49 5.85 6.39 6.07 6.44 4.58 5.13 5.19 5.26 6.08 3.79 6.57 6.35 3.96 5.14 6.10 4.04 5.89 5.02 5.57 5.30 5.82 5.74 6.50 4.99 5.26 6.28 6.10 6.04 5.33 6.11 5.67 5.30 4.43 6.10 5.35 5.06 5.76 3.44


(Contd.)

Table 6: The Global Competitiveness Index: Basic requirements (contd.)PILLARS BASIC REQUIREMENTS Country/Economy Rank Score 1. Institutions Rank Score 2. Infrastructure Rank Score 3. Macroeconomic stability Rank Score 4. Health and primary education Rank Score

Libya Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia, FYR Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Singapore Slovak Republic Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan, China Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Venezuela Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe

75 46 12 68 125 127 25 116 40 130 50 60 95 102 59 67 131 48 120 10 19 122 105 14 31 110 54 123 94 85 70 37 44 21 87 56 34 101 88 3 52 38 69 27 92 73 6 2 71 20 112 114 43 128 65 35 72 129 86 17 24 22 57 111 79 121 134

4.27 4.84 5.78 4.42 3.49 3.43 5.42 3.58 5.08 3.28 4.67 4.47 3.99 3.87 4.52 4.42 3.21 4.71 3.55 5.81 5.58 3.54 3.74 5.76 5.25 3.67 4.64 3.51 4.02 4.17 4.39 5.14 4.96 5.50 4.15 4.54 5.21 3.88 4.15 6.14 4.66 5.13 4.41 5.34 4.07 4.31 5.9975 6.14 4.38 5.53 3.65 3.61 4.97 3.42 4.43 5.17 4.34 3.34 4.15 5.67 5.46 5.50 4.53 3.65 4.23 3.54 2.88

65 55 13 90 94 51 30 79 32 107 39 97 92 121 59 61 112 42 120 10 8 118 106 7 19 95 70 132 101 105 88 35 44 16 89 110 34 83 108 1 73 49 46 43 66 99 4 5 54 40 78 76 57 125 104 22 80 113 115 18 25 29 45 134 71 67 126

3.93 4.19 5.68 3.58 3.52 4.33 4.91 3.73 4.88 3.42 4.68 3.49 3.55 3.08 4.07 4.05 3.27 4.59 3.13 5.76 5.81 3.20 3.42 5.93 5.21 3.51 3.88 2.64 3.45 3.44 3.63 4.75 4.56 5.47 3.63 3.29 4.75 3.69 3.40 6.19 3.85 4.40 4.55 4.59 3.92 3.47 6.05 5.97 4.20 4.67 3.74 3.81 4.17 3.03 3.44 5.15 3.72 3.27 3.26 5.37 4.99 4.93 4.55 2.41 3.87 3.91 3.00

112 46 20 89 114 119 23 107 38 127 43 68 113 133 100 70 124 33 132 12 42 128 120 27 32 85 55 130 110 92 96 26 31 35 105 59 41 83 102 4 64 36 48 22 65 99 13 3 74 19 101 118 29 131 63 34 66 115 79 14 18 7 69 109 93 116 88

2.47 4.24 5.38 2.90 2.41 2.27 5.25 2.55 4.46 2.10 4.32 3.51 2.43 1.85 2.72 3.50 2.18 4.56 1.90 5.71 4.37 2.07 2.24 4.99 4.56 2.96 3.94 1.91 2.53 2.86 2.77 5.07 4.59 4.54 2.56 3.75 4.39 2.97 2.68 6.39 3.64 4.49 4.21 5.30 3.60 2.72 5.71 6.40 3.30 5.46 2.68 2.28 4.67 1.90 3.65 4.56 3.54 2.36 3.13 5.66 5.52 6.10 3.50 2.54 2.86 2.35 2.90

6 52 7 31 127 129 38 94 68 126 117 48 80 37 35 84 112 27 90 36 25 123 26 17 13 116 55 113 67 53 50 82 81 19 76 29 9 103 86 21 49 33 63 30 132 32 15 10 93 18 131 108 41 73 51 75 79 92 91 24 58 66 104 110 70 102 134

6.03 5.23 6.03 5.51 3.38 3.26 5.43 4.60 4.97 3.49 4.03 5.32 4.79 5.44 5.46 4.73 4.23 5.69 4.62 5.45 5.72 3.86 5.70 5.83 5.92 4.17 5.19 4.22 4.98 5.21 5.25 4.74 4.77 5.80 4.85 5.55 6.01 4.44 4.72 5.74 5.31 5.48 5.06 5.53 3.07 5.51 5.88 5.97 4.61 5.82 3.18 4.34 5.41 4.88 5.25 4.87 4.79 4.61 4.62 5.72 5.15 4.99 4.41 4.29 4.91 4.45 1.48

103 52 31 55 104 120 23 130 32 114 57 65 89 94 42 71 132 118 107 11 5 98 126 12 80 116 64 85 95 90 39 33 38 18 66 59 51 109 46 16 44 21 122 35 53 63 8 17 70 20 101 117 58 121 72 27 78 133 60 36 19 34 54 74 84 128 113

4.65 5.69 6.03 5.67 4.63 3.87 6.11 3.43 6.02 4.13 5.66 5.55 5.19 5.11 5.83 5.39 3.15 3.99 4.54 6.30 6.42 5.03 3.59 6.28 5.31 4.03 5.56 5.27 5.10 5.17 5.90 6.00 5.92 6.18 5.55 5.59 5.70 4.43 5.79 6.24 5.82 6.15 3.84 5.96 5.69 5.56 6.35 6.22 5.42 6.16 4.99 4.03 5.61 3.87 5.39 6.09 5.33 3.12 5.59 5.93 6.17 5.97 5.68 5.36 5.29 3.46 4.16



15


Table 7: The Global Competitiveness Index: Efficiency enhancersPILLARS EFFICIENCY ENHANCERS Country/Economy Rank Score 5. Higher education and training Rank Score 6. Goods market efficiency Rank Score 7. Labor market efficiency Rank Score 8. Financial market sophistication Rank Score 9. Technological readiness Rank Score 10. Market size Rank Score

16

Albania Algeria Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Benin Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Chad Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Cte dIvoire Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Estonia Ethiopia Finland France Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Guyana Honduras Hong Kong SAR Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, Rep. Kuwait Kyrgyz Republic Latvia Lesotho

99 113 81 103 10 20 79 46 97 56 21 123 128 102 82 51 77 65 118 133 115 120 5 134 30 40 70 60 109 62 39 28 3 90 117 88 84 26 121 13 16 107 87 11 95 57 86 112 91 6 48 22 33 49 19 23 42 75 12 63 64 76 15 52 110 47 125

3.44 3.29 3.76 3.41 5.31 5.03 3.82 4.32 3.48 4.16 5.02 3.20 3.10 3.42 3.76 4.28 3.84 4.05 3.25 2.73 3.28 3.22 5.44 2.69 4.58 4.41 3.96 4.09 3.33 4.08 4.43 4.67 5.49 3.64 3.27 3.70 3.75 4.73 3.21 5.21 5.09 3.36 3.72 5.22 3.49 4.16 3.72 3.31 3.62 5.43 4.31 4.89 4.49 4.29 5.05 4.84 4.38 3.91 5.22 4.07 4.05 3.90 5.15 4.19 3.33 4.31 3.16

97 102 56 94 14 17 80 54 131 29 6 114 96 109 87 58 69 61 124 130 127 121 9 134 50 64 68 49 112 48 32 25 2 99 115 91 95 19 126 1 16 105 84 21 111 38 103 81 93 28 40 4 63 71 20 24 44 82 23 42 59 86 12 76 83 33 106

3.40 3.28 4.14 3.43 5.44 5.28 3.76 4.22 2.51 4.76 5.63 3.00 3.41 3.13 3.66 4.12 3.93 4.09 2.71 2.55 2.66 2.78 5.52 2.06 4.34 4.05 3.96 4.35 3.11 4.35 4.68 4.98 5.98 3.36 2.96 3.56 3.42 5.23 2.68 6.07 5.37 3.21 3.72 5.15 3.12 4.52 3.27 3.74 3.43 4.78 4.51 5.69 4.06

The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009

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