September 8, 2009 - 15:07 AMT
EV: Armenia's ranks as the 97th country in terms of its competitiveness index
Armenia's position, according to the World Competitiveness Index, remains in the same position in comparison with last year; it ranks as the 97th state in the list of 133 countries of world, Manuk Yerganyan, Head of Economy and Values (EV) research centre told journalists Tuesday, introducing the result of "World Competitiveness Report 2009-2010". "In terms of competitiveness, Armenia has this year made an advance step towards development. An important role at the current stage is played by factors affecting economic efficiency and innovative potentials," he noted.

A leading country, according to the speaker, is Switzerland. The next country in the list is United States where macro-economic stability and financial market are on a low level. Other states included in top five list are Singapore, Sweden and Denmark.

Touching upon CIS countries, Yerganyan said that positive progress was observed in Azerbaijan (51). Competitiveness level in Russia (63) and Ukraine (82) has sharply decreased. Other countries positions are as follows: Georgia - 90, Kazakhstan - 67, Kyrgyzstan - 123 and Tajikistan - 122.

Among positive competitiveness advantages, Head of research center indicated such factors as small amount of state debts and stabilization of employment market, including agricultural policy and expenses in the sphere of combating crimes and terrorism. In terms of malaria influence, Armenia ranks as the first country whereas in the sphere of effective anti-monopoly policy, existence of dominant groups on market and overload of custom procedures, the country is in the last positions.

This is the fifth consecutive year Armenia's name has been included in "World Competitiveness Report 2009-2010". This year, 80 Armenian small, medium and big enterprises participated in the survey. Companies are selected based on their economic structure and international experience for ensuring possibilities of comparing Armenia's economic atmosphere with other states.

"Economy and Values" research center is a partner of the Global Competitiveness Network of the World Economic Forum.