DUBAI – Profiting from a flood of investment, the United Arab Emirates has become the most competitive economy in the Arab world, the World Economic Forum said on Tuesday.
“The Emirates ranked first because of the highly developed infrastructure, particularly air and sea ports,” said Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, an economist who co-authored the survey of 13 Arab states that the Forum released at a two-day meeting of Arab business leaders in the neighbouring Gulf state of Qatar. “The important contributor is the efficiency in the government spending and government regulations as well as the efficiency in the labour market, due to a lot of imported labour,” Hanouz said of Emirates’ success.But Emirates is not the most competitive economy in the Middle East – a position occupied by Israel, according to the biennial survey.Qatar is the second most competitive Arab economy.It took first place in the 2005 survey.And Kuwait is in third place.In world terms, Emirates ranks 29th, just ahead of Portugal and behind Spain, and Israel is 15th.Switzerland is the most competitive country in the world according to the latest WEF 2006-2007 report released in September.Most Arab economies have soared in the past five years despite the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the brief but ferocious battle in Lebanon last year.Many Arab countries are enjoying the fastest growth rates seen for 30 years, the report said.The energy-rich Gulf countries are the most advanced.There, booming energy revenues have been paired with major overhauls in government policies that have made their economies far more competitive, said Simon Williams, an economist with HSBC Bank in Dubai, who was commenting on the report.The WEF said Egypt, Tunisia and Oman had grown more competitive because of progress in their infrastructure, education and labour markets.Nampa-AP”The important contributor is the efficiency in the government spending and government regulations as well as the efficiency in the labour market, due to a lot of imported labour,” Hanouz said of Emirates’ success.But Emirates is not the most competitive economy in the Middle East – a position occupied by Israel, according to the biennial survey.Qatar is the second most competitive Arab economy.It took first place in the 2005 survey.And Kuwait is in third place.In world terms, Emirates ranks 29th, just ahead of Portugal and behind Spain, and Israel is 15th.Switzerland is the most competitive country in the world according to the latest WEF 2006-2007 report released in September.Most Arab economies have soared in the past five years despite the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the brief but ferocious battle in Lebanon last year.Many Arab countries are enjoying the fastest growth rates seen for 30 years, the report said.The energy-rich Gulf countries are the most advanced.There, booming energy revenues have been paired with major overhauls in government policies that have made their economies far more competitive, said Simon Williams, an economist with HSBC Bank in Dubai, who was commenting on the report.The WEF said Egypt, Tunisia and Oman had grown more competitive because of progress in their infrastructure, education and labour markets.Nampa-AP
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