SLOVAKIA slightly improved its competitiveness ranking after placing 75th, up three places from last year, in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on September 3.
Róbert Kičina of the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS), however, still considers the country’s position unfavourable and calls for measures to improve the situation.
“The turnover in the development of Slovakia’s ranking was caused mostly by the increase in macro-economic stability, the decreasing deficit and a more intensive fight by the government against tax evasion,” Kičina said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
He still does not consider the position to be good, however, and says further measures need to be adopted. These should focus on improving the operation of public institutions, like the judiciary and law enforcement, as well as fighting corruption and cronyism, and improving the tax system by abolishing exceptions and decreasing the corporate tax rate to the level in neighbouring countries, as reported by SITA.
According to the WEF, Slovakia also faces barriers in the form of administrative burdens, low transparency, limited effectiveness of public expenses, a stagnant education system and a low level of innovation.
The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 assesses the landscape of competitiveness of 144 economies, providing insight into what drives their productivity and prosperity. The best evaluation went to Switzerland, which topped the list for the sixth time in a row. Second place went to Singapore, while the US ranked third. Regarding the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, the Czech Republic earned the best ranking at 37th place (up from 46). Poland placed 43rd (down from last year’s 42nd place) and Hungary came in 60th (up from 57th place), SITA reported.
Source: SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
