Qatar ‘most competitive’ in Mideast

By Pratap John
Chief Business Reporter

Qatar has topped the Arab world and the Middle East in World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index on the back of its high quality institutional framework, stable macro economical environment and efficient goods market.
Globally, Qatar has been ranked 14th among a total of 142 countries covered by this year’s Global Competitiveness Report (GCR).
A key feature is that Qatar scored a competitiveness record of 5.24 this year, which helped the country move three places up in the global rank list from 17 in 2010. 
The report said Qatar was relatively unharmed by the global economic crisis compared to many other countries. 
“The high growth combined with prudent governmental support to the financial sector contributed to Qatar maintaining a strong macroeconomic and financial stability,” World Economic Forum (WEF) said yesterday.
The rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available hard data and the results of an “executive opinion survey”, a comprehensive annual exercise done by the WEF together with its network of “partner institutes” in the countries covered by the report. 
Qatari Businessmen Association (QBA) is WEF’s local partner.
QBA chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassem al-Thani said that the Global Competitiveness Report,  by providing detailed assessments of the economic conditions of Qatar and other nations worldwide,  offered policy-makers and business leaders an important tool in the formulation of improved economic policies and institutional reforms.
“With the growing complexity of the global economy, the Global Competitiveness Report is a contribution to enhancing our understanding of the key factors, which determine economic growth,” Sheikh Faisal bin Qassem said.  
Qatari Businessmen Association First Deputy Chairman Hussein Ibrahim Alfardan stressed on the importance of the state’s progressive position in the rankings for this year, “which was due to the strong efforts exercised by both the public and private sector in developing the national economy”.
The top rankings of Switzerland, Singapore and Sweden show that good institutions and competent macroeconomic management, coupled with world-class educational attainment and a focus on technology and innovation, are a successful strategy for boosting competitiveness in an increasingly complex global economy.

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