Armenia improves its position in World Economic Forum’s competitiveness ranking

YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. Armenia has improved its position in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Competitiveness Ranking in terms of the number of procedures required to register a business, Sevak Hovhanesian from Economy and Values local think tank told a news conference today, while presenting the latest report. He said overall the country has moved up 10 notches to 82nd place out of 144 countries surveyed in 2011-2012.

"In terms of the number of procedures required to register a business, Armenia has improved its position by 26 points and ranks 8th among 144 countries," according to him.

Among the main advantages of the country the report mentions low level of costs related to dismissals, low spread of HIV/AIDS, low business costs due to crime, violence, terrorism and the amount of customs duties, transparency in public policy development, flexibility in determining the size of salaries and wages and their relationship with the level of productivity.

Positive changes were also fixed in terms of macroeconomic stability. Particularly, the country has improved its standing by 26 notches in terms of the balance of the state budget rising to the 66th place. In terms of loan availability Armenia has upped by 16 points to the 69th place , in terms of the availability of financial resources is has also improved its standing by 23 points to 48th place.

In terms of the intensity of competition Armenia’s ranking did not change. It is on the 130th position, neither changed its position in terms of anti-trust policy productivity. It is 116th.

Speaking of customs policy, Hovhanesian said customs clearance of goods is still on the list of the most serious obstacles to business in Armenia - Armenia has improved its ranking by 5 points to 127th position.

The report uses 12 categories to assess a country's ranking: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

In total, six European economies are in the top 10 - Switzerland (1st), Finland (3rd), Sweden (4th), the Netherlands (5th), Germany (6th) and the United Kingdom (8th). Switzerland maintained its top position thanks to its scientific institutions, a strong collaboration between academia and business sectors, high spending on research and development as well as its high rate of patenting per capita, the WEF said. -0-