Malta has slipped six places to 47th place in the Global Competitiveness Index, compiled by the World Economic Forum. In 2013 Malta had risen six places to rank 41st but has now returned to its 2012 ranking.

The Competitiveness Index is based on 12 pillars. Malta scored highly on Health and Primary Education and on Technological Readiness but received a low score on Market size and innovation. In all, Malta ranked above 50 for 9 out 12 pillars that make the Global Competitiveness Index.

The Competitiveness indicator exhibiting slight improvement is the macroeconomic environment, with the government budget balance, the gross national savings, inflation, and general government debt contributing to Malta’s higher ranking in this factor. 

The Report also highlights Malta’s low ranking in the number of procedures necessary to start a business and in the number of days to start a business, the low ratio of women in the labour force compared to men and the legal rights.

 

Bureaucracy, trust in politicians, problematic factors

According to the report, the most problematic factor for doing business in Malta is ‘Inefficient government bureaucracy.’ Access to financing, insufficient capacity to innovate and an inadequately educated workforce also feature on the list.

The report gauges each country’s performance on a number of categories and sub-categories, giving out the score and world ranking for each and every one.

Malta got a low score of 3.5 (out of 7) for ‘Public trust in politicians,’ and 3 on ‘Favouritism in decisions of government officials.’ Relatively low scores were also registered on the quality of roads and the burden of government regulation.

Out of a total of 144 countries, Malta ranked 111st on Gross National savings, 128th on the number of procedures required to start up a business (11 procedures), and 126th on the number of days required to start a business (39.5 days.) Malta ranked 116th on the ratio of women in the labour force (0.61). On the intensity of local competition Malta is ranked third globally.

On the other hand Malta is ranked in 12th place for the quality of primary education, 16th on the quality of the education system, 16th for ease of access to loans and 10th on the soundness of banks.

 

Malta remains among top 50 countries - Cardona

The competitiveness report was not seen in a bad light by everyone, including Economy Minister Chris Cardona, who noted that Malta remained among the top 50 countries.

“Malta’s global competitiveness ranking remains among the top 50 countries. The World Competitiveness Report published today, in fact, ranked Malta 47th out of 144 countries. The slightly-decreasing score follows a record high position in competitiveness attained in 2013-2014. Malta maintained its lead and ranked ahead of other EU countries including Italy, Hungary, Slovenia and the Slovak Republic, among others.”

The Ministry noted that, while being placed in 18th position amongst the other 28 EU member countries, Malta ranks 65th in the macroeconomic environment and Malta’s country credit rating placed at the 35th position out of all the 144 countries surveyed. Malta also scored significantly well in the soundness of banks, quality of health and primary education.

The Ministry said the new and innovative initiatives to help start-up business and reduce bureaucracy are already being developed and will be launched in the coming months in order to give a boost to Malta’s competitiveness.

“One such innovative programme, catering for start-up businesses, is to be launched soon. The Ministry is also committed to widen the span of services provided by Business First in order to fulfil its mission as a one-stop-shop for small businesses and cut on unnecessary bureaucracy. Earlier this year, Business First launched new services and has others in the pipeline, which will be launched soon. Moreover, in 2015 Malta’s competitiveness will be further enhanced with the 25 per cent reduction in utility bills for businesses.”

 

Switzerland retains top ranking

The Global Competitiveness Report showed that Switzerland has retained top place for the sixth consecutive year. Singapore has held on to second place and the U.S have climbed to third from fifth. Finland and Germany both slid one place to fourth and fifth respectively.

Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum said: “The global economy may have exited crisis mode, but the path to sustainable growth remains uncertain. Quality growth is key to reinforcing inclusiveness and it is imperative that leaders act now to underscore prosperity and productivity for the future.”