Israel Jumps up 8 places in Global Competitiveness Index

October 1, 2006 by Sarah · 5 Comments
Filed under: Business

Israeli is ranked 15th in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2006 Global Competitiveness Index, up from 23rd place in 2005. The US fell from first to sixth place. Israel outranks Canada, Austria, France, Australia, Belgium and Ireland, which follow it in descending order.

The WEF ranks countries’ competitiveness according to a set of criteria, arranged into nine groups: macroeconomic policy, market efficiency, business sophistication, technological readiness, innovation, infrastructure, health and primary education, higher education and training, and institutions. The WEF believes that these factors affect an economy’s productivity, which in turn affects its ability to maintain sustained growth over many years. The rankings include figures for the criteria derived from surveys of business managers.

The WEF says the jump in Israel’s ranking was primarily due to the reforms led by the Bachar committee, which instilled in Israel a considerable degree of competitiveness and professionalism, and laid the groundwork for a revolution in asset management. The report’s author, WEF chief economist Augusto Lopez-Claros says Israel is attracting a growing number of foreign investors, and that there were extremely impressive developments in Israel’s financial markets and that it now had developed along regional and international standards.

The WEF goes on to say that Israel benefits from innovation, supported by top-of-the-line higher education and scientific research institutions. Israel has become a global technology powerhouse, which has a huge impact on the rest of the economy, and is good news for the future. High-tech products comprise 70% of Israel’s industrial exports, the highest proportion in the world.

Hat tip: Dave Bender

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