Bulgaria Shows Slight Growth in 2016-2017 Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum

Bulgaria went up 4 positions in the Global Competitiveness Report for 2016-2017 of the World Economic Forum. According to the organization’s assessment, our country ranks 50th out of 138 countries in terms of business development conditions. The report points out that problem factors for the business are corruption, inadequate training of staff against business needs and infrastructure problems. The indicators with positive trend include Strength of investor protection, Extent of market dominance, Effect of taxation on incentives to invest, GDP growth, FDI and technology transfer, Fixed-broadband Internet subscriptions, Country capacity to attract and retain talent. On its 50th place Bulgaria is ahead of several European Union countries – Greece (86), Cyprus (83), Croatia (74), Hungary (69), Slovakia (65), Romania (62) and Slovenia (56).

The three most competitive economies in the world remain those of Switzerland, Singapore and the USA. In top 10 are also the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Great Britain, Japan and Hong Kong.

Overall, the World Economic Forum’s assessment is that the growth of the global economy remains weak and many countries report poor productivity growth and high income inequality. A closing of the economies is registered, which has a negative impact on competitiveness. Another key conclusion is that reconsidering of business processes and investing in innovation are just as important as infrastructure, human skills and market efficiency.

The report states that the world is on the verge of the Fourth industrial revolution with a rapid introduction of technology in all sectors, which changes the world around us and the way we begin to perceive the “human”.

The complete report can be read here, and the indicators for Bulgaria are on page 130.