October 17, 2018 (MLN): Pakistan has been ranked at 107th position in an influential global competitiveness index, slipping by one point against its ranking for last year. It lagged far behind India (rank 58), Sri Lanka (rank 85) and Bangladesh (rank 103) on the index.
According to the report, Pakistan ranked 75th in innovation capability as it demonstrated the region’s lowest levels of technological readiness, confirming the challenge for large emerging economies to fully integrate its entire population—especially those living in the most remote areas—into modernization processes.
In terms of labour market performance, Pakistan ranked 121 whereas for Institutional and Health performance, it ranked 109 on the index
Pakistan also emerged as the worst performing country in terms of tackling notable issues related to violence, crime and terrorism.
The World Economic Forum assessed micro and macro-economic performance of 140 countries across the globe in terms of 100 different indicators within 12 pillars, ranging from the quality of infrastructure to macro-economic stability and the financial systems.
It also added several new metrics to its 2018 study, such as workforce diversity, press freedom and how hierarchical the biggest companies are in a particular economy.
The United States topped the WEF ranking after a methodology shift helped unseat Switzerland after nearly a decade.
