The deterioration in Israel's competitive ranking was halted this year. Israel rose 3 spots to 24th in the 2010-2011 World Economic Forum's global competitiveness report.
Over the past three years Israel had fallen 13 places in the ranking.
This year's ranking was led by Switzerland, which led the previous year's ranking as well, Sweden (2009: #4), Singapore (2009: #3), the US (2009: #2), Germany (2009: #7), and Japan (2009: #8).
Israel was followed this year by the United Arab Emirates at 25 (2009: #23) and Malaysia at 26 (2009: #24).
According to the report, some of the problematic areas for doing business in Israel were the level of effectiveness of government bureaucracy, quality of infrastructures, and tax burden. The report also said that Israel should emphasize raising its quality of education.
The top Middle Eastern country was Qatar at #17.
Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab said, "Policy-makers are struggling with ways of managing the present economic challenges while preparing their economies to perform well in a future economic landscape characterized by uncertainty and shifting balances. In such a global economic environment, it is more important than ever for countries to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 12, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010