Inefficient government bureaucracy is the most problematic factor for conducting business in Malta, according to the 2009 edition of the World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey. The survey, published with the Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, was conducted among business executives on the island.
Eighteen per cent of the executives cited government bureaucracy as their main problem followed by tax rates (11.9 per cent), access to financing (11.6 per cent), inadequately educated workforce (10.1 per cent), an inadequate supply of infrastructure (9.5 per cent), tax regulations (8.8 per cent), restrictive labour regulations (7.8 per cent) and inflation (7.7 per cent).
Malta ranked 52 (out of 133 countries) in the Global Competitiveness Report, the same position it was given last year.
The index is based on 12 pillars consisting of four basic requirements, namely institutions (ranked 33), infrastructure (38), macroeconomic stability (81) and health and primary education (32); six efficiency enhancers, namely higher education and training (ranked 37), goods market efficiency (40), labour market efficiency (93), financial market sophistication (13), technological readiness (27) and market size (121); and two innovation and sophistication factors, namely business sophistication (ranked 46) and innovation (53).
Switzerland tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report released by the World Economic Forum followed by the United States which fell one place to second position with weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability. Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Canada and the Netherlands came next.
The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has continued its fall from last year, moving down one more place this year to 13th, mainly attributable to continuing weakening of its financial markets.
The People's Republic of China continues to lead the way among large developing economies, improving by one place this year, solidifying its position among the top 30. Brazil and India also improved, while Russia fell by 12 places. Several Asian economies performed strongly with Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan also in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked country, followed by Costa Rica and Brazil.
A number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf States, which continue their upward trend of recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana feature in the top half of the rankings, with a number of other countries from the region measurably improving their competitiveness.
"The strong interdependence among the world's economies makes this a truly global economic crisis in every sense. Policy-makers are presently struggling with ways of managing these new economic challenges, while preparing their economies to perform well in a future economic landscape characterised by growing uncertainty.
In a difficult global economic environment, it is more important than ever for countries to put into place strong fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development," said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.
Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA, and co-author of the report added: "Amid the present crisis, it is critical that policy-makers not lose sight of long-term competitiveness fundamentals amid short-term urgencies. Competitive economies are those that have in place factors driving the productivity enhancements on which their present and future prosperity is built. A competitiveness-supporting economic environment can help national economies to weather business cycle downturns and ensure that the mechanisms enabling solid economic performance going into the future are in place."
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the report.
This year, over 13,000 business leaders were polled in 133 economies. The survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy's business climate. The report also includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities for policy reform.
The Global Competitiveness Report's competitiveness ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), developed for the World Economic Forum by Sala-i-Martin and introduced in 2004.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.