site.btaBulgaria Climbs to 54th Rank in World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015

Bulgaria Climbs to 54th Rank in
World Economic Forum
Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 


Sofia, September 3 (BTA) - Bulgaria has climbed to 54th position
 among 144 countries with an index of 4.37 according to the
Global Competitiveness Report 2014 - 2015 of the World Economic
Forum, the organization's partner for Bulgaria, The Centre for
Economic Development, said.
          
With this result Bulgaria outstrips several EU countries:
Romania (59th), Hungary (60th), Slovenia (70th), Slovakia
(75th), Croatia (77th) and Greece (81st).
          
For the third year in a row Bulgaria has been improving its
positions in respect to national competitiveness. In 2011 it
ranked 74th, in 2012 it was 62nd and in 2013 it was 57th.
 
The Global Competitiveness Index is divided into three
subindexes: basic requirements, efficiency enhancers and
innovation and sophistication factors.
          
BulgariaÒs best positions are in respect to the efficiency
enhancers which include higher education and training, goods
market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market
development, technological readiness and market size. Here
Bulgaria ranks 52nd.
         
In the basic requirements ranking, which includes institutions,
infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary
education, the index is 4.71 and the ranking 59th.           

The results in the innovation and sophistication ranking are
negative with a 3.27 index and 106th rank.
         
In respect to macroeconomic stability, Bulgaria was 30th last
year but has now dropped to 36th.
            
The other factor which has moved the country forward is
technological readiness. Last year Bulgaria was 44th and now it
is 41st. This includes several quantitative indicators which
have very good values. These are: Internet users (53.1 per cent
of the population); fixed broadband Internet subscriptions (19
per 100 of the population and 39th rank); Internet bandwidth and
 active mobile broadband subscriptions (58.3 per 100 of the
population).
           
The results in respect to institutions are concerning as
Bulgaria has stepped down from the 107th to the 112th position.
The data about the judicial system and its independence are
negative (126th), favouritism in decisions of government
officials (134th), public trust in politicians (130th),
transparency of government policy-making (124th), and burden of
government regulation (102nd).
                       
Bulgaria continues to slip in the ranking regarding the labour
market factor and is now 67th after being 61st last year. The
report takes into account the grave problems related to high
unemployment, low labour productivity, underestimation of
professional management and cooperation in labour-employer
relations. The lowest score has been awarded to the country's
capacity to attract and retain talent (142nd place). Another low
 indicator is the reliance on professional management (113th
place).
                        
According to the report, the main problems for entrepreneurs in
Bulgaria are: corruption practices, inefficient state
administration and difficult access to funding. Over the last
year, these have come to include political and government
instability. The problem of lack of qualified labour also
remains./SN/BR

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