RIYADH — Saudi Arabia continued its upward ascent as it rose two places in the global competitiveness rankings. In the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2020 published on Tuesday by the Switzerland-based the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the Kingdom is ranked as the 24th most competitive economy among the 63 countries covered by the report, up two positions from a year earlier, Saudi Press Agency reported. This year, the Kingdom is the only improving country in the GCC and in the Middle East region. It is also the 8th most competitive G20 economy, ahead of peers, such as Russia, France, Japan, Italy, India, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and Turkey. The Kingdom has moved up the ranking on 3 out of 4 factors covered by the benchmark: from 30th to 20th position in economic performance; from 25th to 19th in business efficiency; and from 38th to 36th in infrastructure. Commenting on the results, Majid Al-Qasabi, Minister of Commerce and chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Competitiveness Center said: "Our positive performance in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2020 is yet another step forward, adding to the leap that we realized last year on our way to transforming Saudi Arabia into a top 10 competitive economy in the world as envisioned by the Kingdom's Vision 2030. Our progress is the fruit of a unique model of cross-sectoral collaboration among more than 50 government entities, collectively dedicated to carrying out ambitious policy and regulatory reforms and improving the competitiveness assets of the Kingdom." The World Competitiveness Yearbook is a yearly report published by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) based in Switzerland. It measures and tracks competitiveness in 63 most competitive economies in the world, using various indicators capturing the different dimensions of the economy.
