Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept 7 /Trend A.Akhundov/
A significant improvement in the position of Azerbaijan in the competitiveness ranking of world economies, compiled annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF), will give an impetus to the growth of foreign investment in the country, head of department of economic policy analysis and forecasting of the Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan Adalat Muradov told Trend on Friday.
Azerbaijan was among the top 50 most competitive economies in the world and was 46th out of 144 countries in the ranking of competitive economies in the world for 2012-2013, compiled annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
"World Economic Forum, the international rating agencies and other international financial institutions gave a positive evaluation to the processes in the Azerbaijani economy. For foreign investors, this means that the situation in Azerbaijan is good and they can build their business, "Muradov said.
He noted that this latest WEF report could affect the improvement of the leading rating agencies.
"Estimates of the rating agencies and the WEF have a mutual influence. WEF counting competitiveness index refers to the opinion of rating agencies, while at the same time, these agencies use the evaluation of such organisations as the World Economic Forum. So, it will definitely affect the ranking of countries and organisations and companies operating here," Muradov said.
In calculating the index of competitiveness of each country, the WEF uses 12 key indicators - the quality of institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological level, the volume of the internal market , competitiveness and innovation.
The largest increase compared to the previous year was recorded in Azerbaijan in terms of efficiency of the commodity market up by 19 places.
In terms of innovation capacity, Azerbaijan's rating rose by 14 degrees, the technological level - 13 degrees and quality of institutions - five degrees.
"In terms of macroeconomic stability, Azerbaijan is in the top 20 at 18th and that is very good," Muradov stressed.