It was announced yesterday that Ireland ranks 7th of the 61 countries benchmarked in the 2016 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook.
This means that Ireland has moved up nine places in overall competitiveness from last year’s ranking.
Furthermore, Ireland achieved top ranking position in a number of important sub factors such as Real GDP Growth, Flexibility and adaptability of people, Real GDP Growth per capita, Investment Incentives, National Culture and Finance Skills.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) is reputed as being the worldwide reference point on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analyzing how an economy manages the totality of its resources and competencies to increase the prosperity of its population.
It has been published since 1989 and compares the competitiveness of 61 nations on the basis of over 300 criteria. It is based on hard data statistics and a business executives' opinion survey.
The IDA believe that Ireland’s ranking of 7th place in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is excellent news and will assist the country in boardrooms across the World. CEO of IDA Ireland, Martin Shanahan said, " Ireland must remain conscious of maintaining improved competitiveness in an export led economy, the provision of suitable skills coming through the workforce and Ireland must continue to provide business advantages that resonate with global companies."
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor has also welcomed the news, "The significant improvement in Ireland's overall ranking in this year’s IMD publication is very welcome news and an important signal to international investors. The improvement in Ireland’s ranking is the result of the efforts of ambitious enterprises, hardworking employees and effective enterprise focused policies."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
