World Economic Forum on Africa ranks Tunisia as 1 st most competitive country on the continent
Tunis , June 14, 2007 (TunisiaOnline)--Tunisia was ranked "the most competitive country in Africa" by the 2007 Africa Competitiveness Report released on Wednesday by the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town. The report which is based on an assessment of the economies of 128 countries, also ranks Tunisia as the 29 th most competitive country in the world.
The report is based on a joint study by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the African development Bank. It is part of the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) and is the first such report assessing not only the business environment of African companies, but also providing an integrated vision of the political challenges faced by African nations, as they struggle to set up the foundations of growth and sustainable prosperity.
Tunisia is 17 places ahead of South Africa , the continent's largest economy. Other North African countries are ranked 65 th to 76 th .
Insofar as its corporate ethics and the quality of its private institutions are concerned, Tunisia is on an equal footing with such European Union countries as Spain and Portugal , writes the report.
It notes that Labor markets in the country are also “quite flexible” (32 nd ), with a strong cooperation between employers and workers (29 th ) and that Tunisia is a leader in the assessment of women's participation in the work force for which it is ranked 5 th . The report also stresses the “quality of the country's labor force.”
Observers note that this latest ranking confirms a series of other recent favourable ratings by major international institutions such as the Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) which in its 2007 report, ranked Tunisia as 1 st in the Arab World and 3 rd in the group of emerging countries after Malaysia and Chile.
Tunisia was also ranked by the same WEF as 1 st Arab and African country for its use of ICT's, as well for the competitiveness of its tourism industry.
Tunisia
ranking in recent World Reports