Saudi Arabia's global competitiveness rating dropped one place to 28th, according to a new ranking published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Tuesday. Switzerland edged past the United States to claim the No. 1 spot, according to the survey which combines opinions of over 13,000 business executives with economic statistics and government regulations. From 2006 to 2008, the US was No. 1 in the survey conducted by the Geneva-based WEF. Before that Finland held the top spot. In the Gulf region, Qatar topped by edging ahead of the UAE to claim the title of the Gulf region's most competitive country. Qatar was rated 22nd overall in the list of 133 countries. Both Qatar and the UAE moved up the list with Qatar jumping four places and the UAE up eight places compared to 2008. All the other Gulf Cooperation Council countries fell in the rating. Bahrain was ranked 38 (from 37 in 2008), Kuwait 39th (down from 43) and Oman 41 (38 in the previous year). Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) is striving to step up Saudi Arabia's attractiveness as a foreign investment destination and place the country in the Top 10 by 2010. The US fell to second place due to a weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability, WEF said. The United States' high budget deficit, a very low savings rate and a public debt that has been rising over the past years have weakened macroeconomic stability, said Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, a senior economist who worked on the survey. “Given that the financial crisis originated in large part in the United States, it is hardly surprising that there has been a weakening of the assessment of its financial market sophistication,” the survey said. “The country's greatest weakness continues to be related to its macroeconomic stability.” Switzerland has overtaken the U.S. because its economic performance has been “relatively stable,” the survey said. Swiss financial markets have “weakened somewhat,” it said, citing difficulties for banks. Pollsters asked business leaders to assess how growth-oriented 133 countries were, using the following criteria: good government; transport and telecommunications infrastructure; openness to innovation; intellectual property protection, and availability of talent. They also took into account economic output, number of computers and the procedures required to start up a business. Singapore came third this year, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Canada and the Netherlands. The UK dropped one place to 13th. Several Asian economies performed strongly with Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea and Taiwan, China also in the top 20. India ranked 49th.
