AMMAN -- Jordan's ranking in the 2013-2014 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) has dropped by four places to 68th spot out of 148 countries, according to the report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday.
Jordan dropped four positions after significant improvement in the previous year, when its ranking was 64 out of 144 countries. The Kingdom ranked 68th after it registered an overall score of 4.2 points out of seven points across 12 categories used in the report to measure economic competitiveness of covered countries.
The 12 pillars are: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.
The report said the drop in Jordan's ranking mainly reflects the country's macroeconomic challenges that resulted in wider fiscal deficits and higher public debt levels that will undermine growth over the medium term if they remain unaddressed.
Boosting growth over the long term to levels that would result in sustainable job creation would require Jordan's policymakers to address a number of challenges, the report said, adding that stabilising the macroeconomic environment should be accompanied by growth-enhancing structural reforms.
According to the GCI, there is significant room for improvement in boosting labour market efficiency and the full potential of ICT.
Jordan could also benefit from more openness to international trade and investment, which would trigger efficiency gains in the domestic economy as well as the transfer of knowledge and technology, the WEF report said.
Tariff barriers remain high in international comparison, and regulatory barriers to foreign direct investment remain in place, according to the report.
Although financing appears to be more easily available than in many other countries, as Jordan came 34th on ease of access to loans, the report said, adding that efforts to further stabilise the banking sector should continue.
In the "institutions" pillar, Jordan went up to the 38th spot in this year's report from 42nd place last year and rose from 60th to 54th position in "infrastructure", while in the health and primary education category, the Kingdom's ranking went down sharply to 65th from 56th place in the 2012-2013 report.
In the macroeconomic environment category, the Kingdom's ranking also saw a sharp decline down to the 138th position from the 112th, according to the index.
In the innovation pillar, the Kingdom's ranking continued to improve, jumping to 53rd place from 57th the year before. In the category of business sophistication, Jordan's ranking also went up by 8 spots from 55th to 47th position.
In the category of financial market development, Jordan maintained 79th ranking, improving in the field of goods and market efficiency this year to 39 from 44, while going down by one spot in the higher education and training pillar to 56.
In market size, Jordan's ranking advanced to 87 from 88, while it maintained its position in the pillar of labour market efficiency at 101.
In the technological readiness pillar, Jordan came in 69th, down by one place from last year's report.
© Jordan Times 2013
