Iran in the Global Scene of 'Competitiveness'

Radio Farda - The annual report of the 'World Economic Forum' on 'global competitiveness', published on Wednesday, provides interesting data about Iran as always. Reza Valizadeh asked economist Fereydoun Khavand about the concept of 'competitiveness' and the criteria for measuring it: Fereydoun Khavand: 'The World Economic Forum', known primarily for its famous annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has various publications, one of the most important being this annual report on the degree of 'competitiveness' of countries. The concept of 'competitiveness' in this report does not mean that a country can only compete in foreign trade. It refers to the totality of institutions, policies, and factors that create the conditions for long-term flourishing and progress of a country. A country is more competitive if it allows its citizens to achieve higher income levels. If we look at the components used to assess the degree of competitiveness of countries, we see that Iran is still in very poor condition regarding its institutions, goods market, money market, and labor market. This report considers twelve components for measuring 'competitiveness', from institutions to infrastructure, macroeconomic status, technology, market size, etc. Based on the average obtained from these twelve components, countries are given scores from one to seven. This year, like last year, Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States ranked first to third in the world in terms of 'competitiveness'. In this global competition for competitiveness, where does Iran stand? Iran has risen nine places this year, ranking seventy-fourth among 144 countries, while it was eighty-third last year. However, Iran is still twelve places lower than in 2012 when it ranked sixty-second. In terms of 'competitiveness', Qatar has outpaced other countries in the region, ranking fourteenth in the world, and the UAE ranks seventeenth. Turkey's position in terms of 'competitiveness' is 23 places better than Iran's. For a country like Iran that wants to be a major regional power, it is undesirable to be ten places behind Jordan in terms of 'competitiveness'.