Filenews 15 June 2022
Cyprus fell by seven places in the IMD World Competitiveness Centre rankings in 2022 and from 33rd place fell to 40th out of 63 countries evaluated.
The IMD World Competitiveness Center of the IMD World Competitiveness Center in Switzerland © has today published the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022, which assesses the competitiveness of 63 economies. The Centre for Economic Research of the University of Cyprus and the Federation of Employers and Industrialists (OEB) participate in this project as partners of the Global Competitiveness Centre.
According to the announcement of the University of Cyprus, where the Centre's report is presented in detail, this decline shows that the increase in the ranking that Cyprus had achieved in 2020 was due to temporary factors.
This year's decline is largely due to the deterioration of Cyprus' economic performance, mainly as a result of reduced domestic and international investments, increased inflation, a current account deficit and a deterioration in trade conditions.
More generally, as noted, the position of Cyprus is burdened by the three factors. First, the low efficiency of businesses due to weaknesses related, inter alia, to the implementation of digital transformation, changing market conditions, the assumption of corporate social responsibility and the attraction of talented employees.
Secondly, the inadequate scientific and technological infrastructure, and thirdly, the reduced efficiency of the state mainly due to shortcomings in the institutional framework.
This year's ranking of Cyprus, the report's summary says, highlights the factors that limit the competitiveness of businesses and the country.
Some factors are associated with exogenous disorders such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and sanctions against Russia, which affect each country to varying degrees and it is too early to determine to what extent the effects are permanent or temporary.
Nevertheless, it is noted, several factors weighing on competitiveness are related to long-standing weaknesses which are addressed by the implementation of reforms. Reforms, he added, that accelerate the digital transition, strengthen the technological and scientific infrastructure and improve the institutional framework are expected to strengthen competitiveness and make the economy more flexible to technological and environmental challenges, but also more resilient to crises.
CNA
