In this period of dark gloom and doom, the new Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 has been declared by the World Economic Forum. The US tops the overall ranking.

Turkey enough competitive? - 11 / 10 / 2008 09:28

The World Economic Forum has graded Turkey to sixty-third in its competitiveness ranking for 2008.

The U.S. is still great at innovation but bad at economic management. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden and Singapore.

European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit.

Japan and Canada have been graded as 9th and 10th respectively.

The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has dropped by three places and out of the top 10, mainly attributable to a weakening of its financial markets.

 Where is China? No. 30, but rising fast compared to last year. India? No. 50, also up from previous years, and ahead of Russia, No. 51.

Here's more information from the WEF release on the report: “Rising food and energy prices, a major international financial crisis and the related slowdown in the world’s leading economies, are confronting policy-makers with new economic management challenges.

 Today’s volatility underscores the importance of a competitiveness-supporting economic environment that can help national economies to weather these types of shocks in order to ensure solid economic performance going into the future,” said Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA, and co-author of the report.

The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the report.

This year, over 12,000 business leaders were polled in a record 134 global economies. The survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s business climate.

The report also includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities for policy reform. “In an uncertain 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 many years played a facilitating role in this process by providing detailed assessments of the productive potential of nations worldwide.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 offers policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms,” noted Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.