Pakistan stands last in South Asia in global competitiveness, India jump 16 spots

Pakistan has been ranked at 122, last amongst its South Asian neighbours, in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The forum has ranked India at 39th spot, followed by Sri Lanka 71, Bhutan 97, Nepal 98 and Bangladesh at 106 at the GCI, reports the Business Reporter, a financial daily of Pakistan.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-17 competitiveness ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which was introduced by the WEF in 2005.

Defining competitiveness as the set of institutions, policies and factors which determine the level of productivity of a country, the calculations of the GCI scores are made by drawing together country-level data covering 12 categories---the pillars of competitiveness---that collectively make up a comprehensive picture of a country's competitiveness.

The 12 categories, or the pillars of competitiveness are-institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.

Among 114 global competitiveness indicators, Pakistan this year showed improvements on 54 key indices, whereas on 50 indices the country lost its previous position, while 10 indices remained same as last year.

According to the report, Pakistan has shown recovery on the economic front, where the country has been successful in improving its macroeconomic framework to improve its global competitiveness.

Pakistan improved from 119 in 2015-16 to 111 in 2016-17 on the institutions pillars, while infrastructure improved only one point and stands at 116 this year.

Corruption, followed by crime and theft, tax rates, access to finance and government instability and coups, has been identified has the most problematic factor for doing business in Pakistan.

The report also indicates that a ten-year decline in the openness of economies at all stages of development poses a risk to countries' ability to grow and innovate.