Saudi Arabia advances to 39th place in Global Competitiveness Report 2018

Saudi Arabia has advanced to the 39th position on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report for 2018, from the 37th rank last year.

The ranking, the Kingdom’s best since 2012, came despite the changes in the index’s assessment methods this year, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, citing Majid Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and Investment, and Chairman of the Business Facilitation Committee (Tayseer).

Saudi Arabia achieved a full score of 100 percent in the macroeconomic stability index among other countries in the region.

In terms of market size, the Kingdom ranked 17th with 76.3 points, thanks to high gross domestic product (GDP). For infrastructure, Saudi Arabia scored 75.5 pts.

This year, WEF increased the number of countries under coverage to 140 countries, which affected the ranking of many countries, including the Kingdom, he said.

The forum adopted 98 indicators this year, of which 64 indicators were newly included. The previous assessment method used 114 indicators, the minister said.

The change also included data collection mechanisms. It used to 70 percent depend on surveys and 30 percent on international statists and sources, while now the percentage is completely reversed, he explained.

Meanwhile, the integrated work, which involved more than 40 government agencies, is one of the most important factors that led to the improvement of the Kingdom's ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report for 2018, Al-Qasabi added.

Tayseer Committee was established in 2017 to support the private sector in the Kingdom.