Oman- Sultanate slips 4 rungs to 66th in WEF's global competitiveness index ranking

Date

9/29/2016 1:06:14 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat-

Oman ranked 66th in the Global Competitiveness Index 2016-17 rankings released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday, dropping four notches from the previous ranking.

The sultanate stood seventh in the Arab world, behind the other GCC countries and Jordan. UAE topped the Arab world with a global ranking of 16th, followed by Qatar, which ranked 18th overall. Saudi Arabia took 29th position while Kuwait and Bahrain were positioned 38th and 48th, respectively.

The report noted that the drop in energy prices has heightened the urgency of advancing competitiveness agendas across the Arab world. With three economies in the top thirty (UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia), the report added that there remains a clear need for all energy-exporting nations to further diversify their economies and for much greater effort to improve basic competitiveness among the region's energy-importing nations.

For the eighth consecutive year Switzerland ranked as the world's most competitive economy, followed by Singapore (2nd) and the United States (3rd). Barring UAE, which climbed a place this year, the rankings of all the other GCC countries declined by at least four notches.

The report said oil-exporting countries in the MENA region are experiencing lower growth, higher fiscal deficits and rising concerns about unemployment. It said growth in the GCC averaged 5.2 per cent between 2000 and 2012 but fell to 2.5 per cent in 2015. The forecast for 2016 is also 2.5 per cent, and rising oil supplies are expected to keep prices low and limit growth expectations for the coming years, WEF report said.

The Global Competitiveness Report is an annual assessment of the factors driving productivity and prosperity in 138 countries.

At the global level, this year's report finds that declining openness is threatening growth and prosperity. It said that a ten-year decline in the openness of economies at all stages of development poses a risk to countries' ability to grow and innovate.

'Declining openness in the global economy is harming competitiveness and making it harder for leaders to drive sustainable, inclusive growth,' said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of WEF.

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