China Hong Kong took the top spot, followed by Switzerland and the United States in the 2016 World Competitiveness Yearbook ranking released late last night (Monday) by the IMD World Competitiveness Centre – a research group within IMD Business School.
Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada completed the top 10. South Africa climbed up a notch in its overall ranking – up to 52 from its ranking of 53 this year out of a total of 61 countries.
The four-page report on SA pointed to water scarcity, growing poor public sector service delivery and perceived corruption, low business confidence, poor education and a lack of commitment to skills development as some of the challenges affecting the country’s competitiveness.
These were some of the individual sector ranking highlights:
- SA’s economic performance has declined from 49 in 2015 to 54 in 2016 while the government efficiency ranking was stable – remaining at 40 in 2016.
- Business efficiency’s performance ranking has improved – jumping to a ranking of 47, which is up five places from the 52 recorded in 2015.
- Infrastructure has shown minimal improvement – moving up from 55 in 2015 to 54 for 2016.
Professor Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre, said a consistent commitment to a favourable business environment was central to China Hong Kong’s rise and that Switzerland’s small size and its emphasis on a commitment to quality had allowed it to react quickly to keep its economy on top.
“The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions.”
He pointed out that as a leading banking and financial centre, China Hong Kong encouraged innovation through low and simple taxation and imposed no restrictions on capital flows into or out of the territory.
“It also offers a gateway for foreign direct investment in China Mainland, the world’s newest economic superpower, and enables businesses there to access global capital markets,” said Bris.
IMD has published the ranking each year since 1989 and it is widely regarded as the foremost annual assessment of the competitiveness of countries.
Each ranking is based on analysis of over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
Responses from an in-depth survey of more than 5 400 business executives, who are asked to assess the situation in their own countries, are also taken into consideration.
