Slovakia dropped from 30th to 33rd place in the most recent World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009 which was published by the International Institute for Management Development on May 20, the TASR newswire wrote.
Slovakia stands as the 33rd most viable economy among 57 surveyed countries. Compared to neighbouring countries, Slovakia came behind the Czech Republic which placed 29th in the survey, but ahead of the 44th place Poland and 45th place Hungary, said Ján Oravec to TASR. Oravec is head of the F.A. Hayek Foundation think-tank in Bratislava which supplied the institute with data about Slovakia.
In the next few years Slovakia faces large challenges in bringing down the public finances deficit, cutting the tax burden for the business sector, and boosting the quality of the healthcare and social systems, said Oravec.
“We could well do with the reform of education system and science intended to underpin innovation and boost protection of foreign investors,” Oravec added.
Among the Slovakia’s best-rated economic development criteria were real GDP growth and openness of the economy, while high joblessness and Slovak firms' low investment abroad were noted as drawbacks. In terms of efficiency, the government was best evaluated for the simple tax system and its support for foreign investors.
“A decline in public finances, the high payroll-tax, an uncertain legal environment and government interference in business activity and subsidies of state businesses were worst-rated," Oravec said.
Low labour cost, transparency in financial institutions and regulation of risks in financial markets were positively evaluated in terms of efficiency of businesses, while the country was shown to have a poorly developed capital market and too few qualified top managers. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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