WEF Ranks Swiss Numero Uno in Business Competitiveness

If you are planning to expand your business, then Switzerland might just be the place for that. The country claimed the top honors for business competitiveness in the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) report. The Unites States slipped to the sixth spot.

WEF, based in Geneva carried out the annual survey of over 11,000 business leaders in 125 countries across the world. The annual rankings are drawn from a combination of publicly available data and the results of an annual survey conducted by the WEF together with partner research institutes and business organizations. It combined the macroeconomic context, innovation and use of technology, plus the quality of public institutions.

The Forum said Switzerland's well developed infrastructure, plentiful scientific research, intellectual property protection and sophisticated business culture helped launch the country to the index's leading position.

Switzerland scored consistently well in almost all nine categories, ranging from market efficiency through to innovation. The Swiss dropped out of the top six in only two of them: health and primary education (29th) and macroeconomy (18th).

"Switzerland's top ranking reflects a combination of a world-class capacity for innovation and the presence of a highly sophisticated business culture," said Augusto Lopez-Claros, chief economist of the WEF, in the report.

As in Switzerland, it said high-ranking Nordic countries benefited from strong institutions and excellent education and training, but said they lagged in labor market flexibility.

Switzerland was deemed the most competitive economy in 2006, followed by Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Singapore. After the United States, which had topped the 2005 index, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain rounded out the top 10.

The United States freefall had various economic and global issues attributed to it. "With a low savings rate, record-high current account deficits and a worsening of the U.S. net debtor position, there is a non-negligible risk to both the country's overall competitiveness and, given the relative size of the U.S. economy, the future of the global economy," the report said.

India came in at 43rd, carried by its high innovation and the sophistication of firm operations while China figured at 54, up six places from the previous survey.

"One should not read too much into this ranking. It is one of a number of 'beauty contests' organised by different institutions, and two months ago the Swiss only made it into eighth place in a similar ranking published by Germany's Bertelsmann Foundation," said chief economist Rudolf Walser. According to him, these offered only a snapshot of the economic affairs and the main aim for an economy should be stay there in the top league.