C O M P A R I N G T H ES W I S S O N A G L O B A L

S C A L EE T I E N N E K I S S - B O R L A S E

With Switzerland regaining their second place on theglobal competitive economic scale, Hong Kongcontinues to be the only country more competitivethan this EU country.

The rankings, that were first conducted in 1989, is acomprehensive report that evaluates countries acrossall over the world on a wide range of criteria. Thisreport assesses 61 countries, according to criteriacovering areas such as economic performance,government & business efficiency, and infrastructure.

The US in third place, Sweden took fifth place, whichmade this EU country the second most economicallycompetitive European country after Switzerland.

Other countries that are included on this list areDenmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway andCanada.

Last year Switzerland’s economy suffered due to thestrength of the franc, which was unpegged from theeuro in January 2015. Recently, IMD director, ArturoBris said the country’s efficiency and small size haveallowed it to recover quickly from the short-livedeconomic stagnation.

Among all the areas the report evaluated, Switzerlandranked the highest in government efficiency.

“The common pattern among all of the countries in thetop 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation,physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusiveinstitutions,” added Bris.

This same comprehensive report also shed light on afew challenges that the country needs to improve on tomaintain economic strength moving forward.

Within the past year, the country’s attempt to preservebilateral relations with the EU, along with focusing onimmigration reform has proved to be tough for thenation.

The country must also adjust to changes brought aboutby the strong franc, strength competition domesticallyand reconcile its energy and environmental policieswith economic objectives, said the report.

In September, a recent report had praised Switzerland’sinnovation, efficient market (in terms of labor), andthe overall transparency of the labor instructions.

At the same time, the increased economic growth canalso heighten disparity between the economic classeswithin the financial system.

“Unfortunately, the problem for many countries is thatwealth accumulation by the rich doesn’t yield anybenefits for the poor in the absence of proper socialsafety nets.

While Switzerland has no doubt become morecompetitive than the U.S., it is fair to state thatdeveloping countries would need to develop more high-level financial policies to tackle issues such as povertyand wealth disparity.