Moldova on 100th position in ranking of most competitive countries

Chisinau, 28 September /MOLDPRES/ - Moldova went down by 16 positions on in the ranking of the most competitive countries of the world, worked out by the World Economic Forum (WEF), ranking 100th out of all 138 economies analyzed, according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017, launched all over the world, including in Chisinau.   

With 3.88 points out of seven possible ones, Moldova worsened its position against the last year, when it was evaluated at four points and ranked 84th out of 140 countries. The Moldovan economy is placed in the ranking immediately after Butan, Nepal and Cote d’Ivoire and outruns Lebanon, Mongolia and Nicaragua.   

According to the WEF study, Moldova is outstripped by countries of the region, Ukraine and Romania, which are on the 95th and 62nd positions, respectively, which got down from the 79th and 53rd positions in the ranking. Member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States are ahead of Moldova. Azerbaijan is on the 37th position, Russia ranks 43rd, Kazakhstan – 53rd, Georgia – 59th, Tajikistan – 77th and Armenia – 79th.

This fall in the ranking may be understood if we take into consideration the way the economic, social and political situation developed in 2015, just as it was perceived by the business people who participated in the opinion poll, the rector of the Academy of Economic Studies (ASEM), Grigore Belostecinic, said during the unveiling of the Global Competitiveness Report. The macroeconomic instability in 2015 led to a drop in the position in the ranking, we went down from the 55th to the 100th position as to this index, Belostecinic noted.   

“The region entered a recession in 2015, and its growth is expected to remain negative in 2016. In many cases, the depreciation of the currency and inflation, especially in economies dependent on exports, led to a worsening of the situation. The banks have become less liquid and firms’ access to financing decreased, especially in Moldova (hit by banking scandals), Russia, Tajikistan,” the study’s authors said. According to authors, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan were seriously hit by the recession from Russia, which led to a reduction in the economic activity, increase in inflation and considerable worsening of the public money.  

Moldova got the smallest number of points, 2.5 and the weakest position, 133, in terms of “innovations.” The performances in this regard worsened insignificantly against the last year, when the country ranked 130th. The development of the financial market, the state’s institutional capacity and efficiency of the asset market are another three sectors for which Moldova got low marks.   

Moldova had more points in terms of speed of access to Internet (16th position) number of days for starting a business (15), number of procedures for starting a business. These are fields in which, according to the report’s authors, the thinks developed well.   

Just as during the years before, the biggest problems faced by investors and entrepreneurs are corruption, governmental instability, economic policies and inefficient governmental bureaucracy, access to financing and inflation. “Eighty seven per cent of the respondents referred to corruption as factor with negative impact on doing business,” Belostecinic said.

Switzerland kept its position of world leader in the ranking of the most competitive states of the world for the sixth year in a row. It is followed by Singapore, United States, the Netherlands and Germany.   

ASEM is the official partner from Chisinau of the World Economic Forum in conducting the survey in Moldova.  

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor L. Alcaza)