The United States was knocked out of the top rank in the annual rating of the most competitive countries, landing at the No 3 spot. The rating is compiled by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) based in Switzerland. Having kept the top status for three years, the US has been replaced by Hong Kong. Switzerland settled at No 2. Singapore fell one position from the third rank assigned last year. Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Canada completed the top ten.
Russia advanced one position to the 44th place this year. In the IMD rating, it is surrounded by Slovenia (43) and Mexico (45). Ukraine also managed to improve its status to the 59th place from 60th. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan suffered the sharpest drop, plummeting 13 ranks to 47th.
China lost three ranks, falling to the 22nd place from 25th in 2015. Venezuela is acknowledged to be the worst in terms of running a business, so it ranked 61st. Belarus was not assessed in the research.
Professor Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, says that Hong Kong clinched to the top spot owing to its commitment to creating a business-friendly environment. Switzerland’s economy is acclaimed for its quality. He noted the US again came first in terms of economic performance. However, there are many other weighty criteria which are taken into account when evaluating competitiveness.
