World Economic Forum says Switzerland remains most competitive country. - For the fourth consecutive year, Switzerland tops the overall rankings of competitiveness established by the World Economic Forum (“The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013”). Singapore remains in second position, ahead of Finland (3rd), which overtakes Sweden (4th). These countries, as well as those of Northern Europe and Western Europe, dominate the “Top 10”, with the Netherlands (5th), Germany (6th), and the United Kingdom (8th). The United States (7th), Hong Kong (9th) and Japan (10th) complete the ranking of the ten most competitive countries. Defining competitiveness as “the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of competitiveness of a country”, the ranking is based on more than 100 indicators organised in 12 categories - the pillars of competitiveness, which enable a portrait of a country's competitiveness to be drawn up. The report highlights that Switzerland and the countries of Northern Europe have strengthened their leadership since 2008. On the other hand, the countries of Southern Europe, like Portugal (49th), Spain (36th), Italy (42nd) and particularly Greece (96th) continue to suffer from a lack of competitiveness due to their macroeconomic imbalances, limited access to financing, rigidity of their employment markets and a weak ability to innovate. Despite improving its score, the United States continues to fall, for the fourth consecutive year, falling from 5th to 7th position. In addition to growing macroeconomic difficulties, some aspects of the American institutional environment continue to feed the concerns of business leaders, particularly the low public trust in politicians and a perceived lack of government efficiency. On a more positive note, the country remains a motor of global innovation and its markets work efficiently. Among the large emerging countries (the BRICs), the performance is very mixed. Despite falling three places in the ranking, China (29th) remains in the lead. Among the other countries, only Brazil moves up, while South Africa (52nd), India (59th) and Russia (67th) lose places in the ranking. For the other regions: (1) Asia: behind Singapore, several Asian economies are performing with excellent results like Hong Kong (9th), Japan (10th), Taiwan (13th), and South Korea (19th), all in the “Top 20”; (2) Middle East-North Africa: Qatar (11th) takes the lead in the region, while Saudi Arabia (18th) retains its place in the “Top 20”. The United Arab Emirates (24th) improves its performance, while Kuwait (37th) slightly declines. Morocco (70th) and Jordan (63rd) improve slightly; (3) Sub-Saharan Africa: South Africa (52nd) and Mauritius (54th) feature in the top half of the rankings. However, most countries in the region continue to require efforts across the board to improve their competitiveness; (4) Latin America: Chile (33rd) retains the lead and a number of countries see their competitiveness improve like Panama (40th), Brazil (48th), Mexico (53rd) and Peru (61st). In the opinion of Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of World Economic Forum: “Persisting divides in competitiveness across regions and within regions, particularly in Europe, are at the origin of the turbulence we are experiencing today, and this is jeopardising our future prosperity. (…) We urge governments to act decisively by adopting long-term measures to enhance competitiveness and return the world to a sustainable growth path.” (IL/transl.fl)