WEF: Azerbaijan leaves CIS states behind for competitiveness

Azerbaijan was ranked the 37th in the Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017 developed by the World Economic Forum. The research covered 138 countries.

Azerbaijan ranked the 40th among 140 countries in the previous report.

As in the previous report, Azerbaijan holds the highest position among the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. The country is followed by Russia (43rd place) and Kazakhstan (53rd place).

Azerbaijan’s global competitiveness index is 4.6 out of maximum 7 scores, according to the report posted on the WEF website.

Despite headwinds from the drop in oil prices that impact the macroeconomic environment, Azerbaijan and Russia improve their performance, mainly driven by better and more widespread education and reforms to improve the business environment and goods market efficiency, says the report.

Azerbaijan ranked 3rd for the number of procedures required to start a business, 9th – for time to start a business, 18th – for the level of women’s participation in the labor force, 39th – for macroeconomic environment, 36th – for the strength of investor protection, 33rd – for the number of internet users, 44th – for innovations, 41st – for the government debt and etc.

As for the other post-Soviet countries, Georgia ranked 59th in the ranking, Tajikistan – 77th, Armenia – 79th, Ukraine – 85th, Moldova – 100th , Kyrgyzstan – 111st.

Switzerland, Singapore, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Japan, Hong Kong, Finland are leaders of the ranking. Chad, Mauritania and Yemen are the last three countries in the ranking.

Earlier, Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev stressed that the country is able to neutralize negative effects of the external factors on its economy, therefore, it is not going to reconsider the state budget forecasts for 2016.

Public budget revenues in 2016 are expected to reach 16.822 billion manats ($11.202 billion), while the rate of expenditures will amount to 18.495 billion manats ($12.316 billion).

The budget deficit is expected to be at the level of 1.673 million manats ($1.109 million) which stands for 2.9 percent of the GDP. The forecast is based on an average oil price which amounts to $25 a barrel.

In March 12016, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on the preparation of the draft economic development strategy and the action plan for 2016-2020, the draft long-term review for the period until 2025 and the draft review of objectives for the period after 2025.

A working group, which is headed by the Azerbaijani president’s aide on economic reforms Natig Amirov, has been created to improve development plans in accordance with the “Main Directions of Strategic Roadmap on National Economy and Major Sectors of Economy”.

The new reforms will mainly cover four directions: the creation of a sustainable macroeconomic environment in the country, reducing transaction costs of business, ensure wide access to investment and financial services, the creation of a flexible and effective legal reform.