The following information was compiled by Competitive Malta and provides an analysis of Malta’s ranking.
2004
Malta ranks 32 out of 104 countries registering a significant decline compared to the results issued in the Global Competitiveness Report of 2003 – 2004. The main contributors to this are: Increasing expectations of a recession (93), Government deficit – mainly other countries are more successful at curbing the deficit and in the case of some new EU member states translates this into surplus (92), Very low/negligible spending on research and development (84), Low level of university/industry research collaboration (76), Wastefulness of government spending (55)
On the other hand a number of competitive advantages that mitigated the decline could be summarized as follows: Stable Inflation (21), Interest rate spread (7), Strong Country Credit rating (28), Low levels of organized crime (11), Government’s success at promoting ICT (5), Government’s prioritization of ICT (11), High level of internet access in schools (17), Strong penetration of telephone and cellular phones (19, 27), Personal computer ownership (25), Internet users (30), FDI technology transfer (14)
2005
This year’s release of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness report is featuring Malta for the third time. In the previous editions Malta ranked 19 and 32.
In relation to this Malta’s competitiveness ranking in line with the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum provides interesting light into the ongoing discussion regarding Malta’s international competitiveness especially when one considers that this year’s report features 117 countries.
Malta’s competitiveness ranking dropped to 35 from the 32nd place out of 117 countries included in the study. The main contributors to this is related to the country’s current macroeconomic standing. Indeed, the study points at a high Government deficit and debt as the underlying reasons. Besides this, attributed to the decline is the increasing expectations of a recession (low business confidence) in the country. In addition to this the World Economic Forum reports at the 79th rank a general wastefulness of government spending.
The report also points towards an absence in spending on research and development as well as minimal university/industry research collaboration as other factors that hinder competitiveness in Malta.
On the other hand the Global Competitiveness Report reports positively with regards to the country’s success at ensuring a strong penetration of telephone lines, cellular phones, personal computers and usage of the Internet. Besides these Malta also ranks well with regards to Government’s success and prioritization of Information and Communications technology.
2006
Malta succeeded at improving its ranking to the 39th position mainly as a result of an upswing in its Technological Readiness ranking that was brought about by a general improvement in the ICT environment of the country. Indeed, Malta ranking at 21 out of 125 countries is underpinned by the high level of penetration of mobile telephony, PCs and Internet subscribers as well as a strong commitment towards e-government. Other areas contributing to the improvement is the general scope of improvement in the Higher Education and Training as well as Infrastructure. Other countries that co inhabited in their ranking with Malta as Cyprus and Poland dropped their ranking thus contributing towards enhancing Malta’s ranking.
Despite these positive aspects, the World Economic Forum’s ranking put Malta’s Macro Economic situation at lower down the ranking scale at 76 mainly as a result of a high budget deficit and debt as well as result of inflationary pressure. Malta’s macroeconomic situation ranks penultimate before Hungary (98) in relation to the other 10 new EU member states.
The report also provides also provides insight into how the relative competitive positioning of countries that joined the EU in May 2004. Estonia ranks the highest at the 25th place followed by the Czech Republic (29), Slovenia (33), Latvia (36), Slovak Rep. (37), and Malta (39). New small member states as Estonia and Slovenia are showing aggressive growth patterns that are harnessed by sound Macro Economic Fundamentals with Estonia and Slovenia ranking at 16 and 29 respectively in the index relating to macro economic management as well as high levels of Technological readiness and Innovation. The economic growth of these countries is therefore expected to excel in the medium to longer-term mainly as a result of their strong emphasis on placing a coherent emphasis on enhancing the main emphasis that lead to strong economic growth: 1) Basic Requirements such as the management of the Economy; 2) Technological readiness, Market efficiency, and Higher Education; 3) Innovation Factors.
2007
The United States tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008, released today by the World Economic Forum. Switzerland is in second position followed by Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Singapore, respectively. Chile is the highest ranked country in Latin America, followed by Mexico and Costa Rica. China and India continue to lead the way among large developing economies. Several countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In sub-Saharan Africa, only South Africa and Mauritius feature in the top half of the rankings, with several countries from the region positioned at the very bottom. This year marks Malta’s 5th consecutive participation in the Report. In 2007 Malta’s ranked 56th out of 131 countries. This represents drop in ranking from the 51st position achieved in 2006.Despite the decline Malta ranks positively in a number of areas including the index relating to: Institutions (31/131), Health & Primary Education (38/131), Financial market sophistication (20/131), Technological readiness (32/131), and Quality of national business environment (38/131). On the other hand, a number of other issues contributes to Malta’s competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis the other countries surveyed. These include: Infrastructure (47/131), Macro Economic Stability (66/131), Labour market efficiency (103/131), Business Sophistication (60/131), Innovation (62/131) and Sophistication of company operations and strategy (60/131). For further information visit: www.weforum.org
Click here to download Presentations with analysis for the above:
ANCR 2008
Malta's Competitiveness rankings 2007 - Power Point
Malta's competitiveness rankings 2007 - Word
Press Launch NACR 2007 - PPT
NACR 2007 - PDF
CM Presentation - Power Point
Press Release WEF tourism - Word
Smarten up 2006 - Word
Malta’s competitiveness ranking slides to 35th place out of 117 (2005) - Word
GCR2006 General Press Release FINAL - Word