Moldova gets by one position higher in ranking of world's most competitive countries

Chisinau, 17 October /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova has got by one position higher in a ranking worked out by the World Economic Forum (WEF), up to the 88th position out of 140 economies analyzed, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2018-2019, launched at the world level today, including in Chisinau.   

With a score of 55.5 points, the absolute maximum values being of 85.6 points, Moldova has improved its performance against the year before, despite the impressive evolution from 2017 and, respectively, the high degree of comparison, when it climbed 11 positions. The Moldovan economy is placed in the ranking immediately after Ecuador and Tunisia and outruns Iran, Botswana and Bosnia & Herzegovina, which are placed on the next positions.     

According to the WEF study, Moldova is outrun by the countries from the region, Ukraine and Romania, which ranked, respectively, 83rd and 52nd. In front of Moldova, there are member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), such as Russia (43), Kazakhstan (59), Georgia (66), Azerbaijan (69), Armenia (70). Nevertheless, even if these countries are better than Moldova in the ranking, the performance of some of them has worsened against the 2017 year. Thus, Russia got down from the 38th position to the 43rd one and Azerbaijan recorded a fall from the 35th position to the 69th one. The economies of such countries like Kyrgyzstan, ranking 97th, and Tajikistan, ranking 102nd, are less competitive.   

According to the value registered by those 12 “pillars,” taken into account while working out the ranking, Moldova’s position was negatively influenced by the variables which determine the macroeconomic environment, the position 95 against the 81st one in 2017, Rector of the Moldovan Academy of Economic Sciences (ASEM) Grigore Belostecinic said while presenting the Global Competitiveness Report.  

Moldova recorded more points in terms of technological education (position 48, against 53 in 2017, dynamism of business (69 against 120 last year), efficiency of assets market (70), efficiency of labour market (71), education and abilities (73) and infrastructure (79).   

Moldova got the weakest number of points (30.2) in terms of innovational capacity and got on the last position in this indicator in the Central and Eastern Europe. Moldova’s position was negatively influenced also by the degree of the financial market’s sophistication, the 128th position.    

„The Global Competitiveness Index is regarded one of the extremely valuable indicators by international investors and serves as a guide which influences the decisions on the investments scheduled both in the world and regionally,” Belostecinic noted.

The United States, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland and Japan are among the most competitive states of the world.

According to the WEF methodology, the Global Competitiveness Index is calculated on the basis of 110 indicators, distributed in 12 groups, on a scale of ten points.   

Starting from 2010, ASEM has been official partner of the World Economic Forum in conducting the survey in Moldova.  

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor A. Raileanu)