Inefficient government bureaucracy most problematic for business
World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey
A survey conducted as part of the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2008 - 2009 has found that inefficient government bureaucracy is the most problematic factor for conducting business in Malta.
From a list of 15 factors, respondents were asked to select the five most problematic ones, and to rank those from one (most problematic) to five. The results were then tabulated and weighted according to the ranking assigned by the participants in the survey.
Inefficient government bureaucracy was by far the largest single factor identified by the respondents with 23.7 per cent of them highlighting this as the greatest obstacle to conducting business in Malta. This was followed by access to financing with a score of 12.2 per cent.
The next problems identified by 9.9 per cent of the respondents were an inadequate supply of infrastructure and tax rates followed by restrictive labour regulations (9.7 per cent), an inadequately educated workforce (8.5 per cent), inflation (8.3 per cent), tax regulations (7.1 per cent), poor work ethics in the labour force (4.7 per cent), and corruption (3.3 per cent).
Other problems identified by a very small minority were government instability (1.4 per cent), poor public health (0.5 per cent), policy instability (0.3 per cent), crime and theft (0.3 per cent) and foreign currency regulations (0.2 per cent).
The World Economic Forum has conducted this annual Executive Opinion Survey for almost 30 years. This year the survey was completed by 12,297 top business executives in 134 countries between January and May. This represents an average of 91 respondents per country.
The survey is regarded as a useful tool "for capturing the opinion of business leaders throughout the world concerning the many factors that not only impact the environment in which businesses operate, but in turn largely dictate the competitiveness of the nation," the Competitiveness Report said.
This is not the first time that bureaucracy has been singled out by the business community as being problematic for the for the conduct of business in Malta. An Ernst & Young Malta 2008 Attractiveness Survey published last summer and conducted among executives of foreign-owned companied based in Malta showed that 32 per cent of respondents highlighted government bureaucracy as a factor which needed addressing to improve Malta's attractiveness as a location to invest in.
This year Malta climbed four places to rank 52nd in the World Economic Forum's Competitiveness Index. European Union member states dominated the top 20 places and the United States came first followed by Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Singapore. Malta ranked 10th for its banking system, 18th for financial market efficiency and 27th for technological readiness but scored poorly for labour market efficiency (100th), market size (97th), macro-economic stability (68th) and innovation (60th).
From a list of 15 factors, respondents were asked to select the five most problematic ones, and to rank those from one (most problematic) to five. The results were then tabulated and weighted according to the ranking assigned by the participants in the survey.
Inefficient government bureaucracy was by far the largest single factor identified by the respondents with 23.7 per cent of them highlighting this as the greatest obstacle to conducting business in Malta. This was followed by access to financing with a score of 12.2 per cent.
The next problems identified by 9.9 per cent of the respondents were an inadequate supply of infrastructure and tax rates followed by restrictive labour regulations (9.7 per cent), an inadequately educated workforce (8.5 per cent), inflation (8.3 per cent), tax regulations (7.1 per cent), poor work ethics in the labour force (4.7 per cent), and corruption (3.3 per cent).
Other problems identified by a very small minority were government instability (1.4 per cent), poor public health (0.5 per cent), policy instability (0.3 per cent), crime and theft (0.3 per cent) and foreign currency regulations (0.2 per cent).
The World Economic Forum has conducted this annual Executive Opinion Survey for almost 30 years. This year the survey was completed by 12,297 top business executives in 134 countries between January and May. This represents an average of 91 respondents per country.
The survey is regarded as a useful tool "for capturing the opinion of business leaders throughout the world concerning the many factors that not only impact the environment in which businesses operate, but in turn largely dictate the competitiveness of the nation," the Competitiveness Report said.
This is not the first time that bureaucracy has been singled out by the business community as being problematic for the for the conduct of business in Malta. An Ernst & Young Malta 2008 Attractiveness Survey published last summer and conducted among executives of foreign-owned companied based in Malta showed that 32 per cent of respondents highlighted government bureaucracy as a factor which needed addressing to improve Malta's attractiveness as a location to invest in.
This year Malta climbed four places to rank 52nd in the World Economic Forum's Competitiveness Index. European Union member states dominated the top 20 places and the United States came first followed by Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Singapore. Malta ranked 10th for its banking system, 18th for financial market efficiency and 27th for technological readiness but scored poorly for labour market efficiency (100th), market size (97th), macro-economic stability (68th) and innovation (60th).