Azerbaijan Moves Forward on Formal Indicators of Economic Competitiveness

Azerbaijan's promotion in the top three lines compared to last year's ranking of global competitiveness was stated by the World Economic Forum (WEF). According to the report published for the years 2016-17, the country is located on the 37th position among 138 countries.

From the maximum 7 points Azerbaijan received 4.6. According to the researchers, the relatively positive result was achieved due to a better and more complete coverage of the reform that has improved the business environment and the goods market efficiency.

In recent years, the country has had a leading position (3rd place) in the number of procedures required to start a business, the 9th place in time in this segment, and the 18th place on the involvement of women in the labor market.

The breadth of coverage of the Internet was the 33rd place, protection of investors - 36th, macroeconomics - 39th, the level of public debt - 41st, innovation - 44th, financial market development - 97th, technological readiness - 55th, market volume - 63rd, business diversification - 60th, and the development of efficiency amplifiers - 59th.

As in the previous report, Azerbaijan leads in the ranking among the CIS countries, with Russia being the 43rd, Kazakhstan - 53rd, Georgia - 59th, Tajikistan - 77th, Armenia - 79th, Ukraine - 85th, Moldova - 100th, and Kyrgyzstan - 111th. Others were not included in the rating.

The leaders are traditionally Switzerland, Singapore, the USA, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong and Finland. At the end of the table are Chad, Mauritania and Yemen.

The ratings combine statistics with the results of a survey of business executives and a comprehensive annual survey, which is conducted in collaboration with national partners in the face of government and non-governmental organizations. --17D-