WEFORUM says Switzerland tops world, Gulf states continue upward trend.

GENEVA, Sept 8 (KUNA) -- The World Economic Forum (WEFORUM) said Tuesday that particular improvements were noted in the Gulf States, which continue their upward trend of recent years. According to the World Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 (WCR) released today by the World Economic Forum (WEFORUM) in the Arab Middle-Eastern region, a number of countries are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Tunisia. Switzerland leads the rankings of the WCR 2009-2010, and the United States falls to second place, with weaker financial markets and less macroeconomic stability. Singapore moves up to third; Brazil, China and India also post improvements. Singapore, Sweden and Denmark round out the top five. European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has continued its fall from last year, moving down one more place this year to 13th, mainly attributable to continuing weakening of its financial markets. The People's Republic of China continues to lead the way among large developing economies, improving by one place this year, solidifying its position among the top 30. Among the three other large BRIC economies, Brazil and India also improve, while Russia falls by 12 places. Several Asian economies perform strongly with Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea and Taiwan, China also in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked country, followed by Costa Rica and Brazil. In the Arab Middle-Eastern region, a number of countries are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf States, which continue their upward trend of recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana feature in the top half of the rankings, with a number of other countries from the region measurably improving their competitiveness. (end) hn.aj KUNA 081157 Sep 09NNNN

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