Kazakhstan ranks 38th in 2018 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking
The IMD ranking is the result of a comprehensive study that assesses factors such as economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. The Yearbook contains 340 criteria, 2/3 of which are based on hard data statistics and 1/3 on survey data.
According to the results of the 2018 study, the Republic of Kazakhstan ranked 38th.
In 2018, 63 countries around the world participated in the ranking. The USA topped the ranking this year. Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Switzerland remain the most competitive countries. Kazakhstan among the CIS countries holds the highest position, Russia - 45th position, Ukraine - 49th position.
There are positive trends for two factors, regardless the decline in the ranking position. Thus, Kazakhstan ranked 49th as per "Economic Performance" factor by raising five spots higher. The improvement can be explained by increased position according to three subfactors: "International Trade" - 56th position (improved by 6 spots), "Employment" - 26th position (improved by 6 spots) and "Prices" - 48th position (improved by 5 spots). The decline in ranking is noted by the subfactors "Domestic Economy" - 46th position (decreased by 6 positions) and "International Investment" - 28th position (decreased by 10 positions).
According to the "Infrastructure" factor, there can be seen improvement of the position by 1 spot - from 43rd to 42nd position. The improvement occurred on three subfactors: "Basic Infrastructure" - 24th position (improved by 8 spots), "Scientific Infrastructure" - 47th position (improved by 2 spots), "Education" - 29th position (improved by 6 positions). However, the positions upon the subfactors "Technological Infrastructure" decreased by 6 spots (49th position) and "Health and Environment" decreased by 3 spots (56th position).
The country is ranked 25th in the "Government Efficiency" category. This factor remains a competitive advantage of the country. The improvement by 2 spots is observed upon the "Societal Framework" subfactor (28th position). The decline is observed upon the "Public Finance" subfactor - from 4th down to 19th position. The position upon the "Business legislation" decreased by 6 spots (28th position), "Tax Policy" - by 4 spots (14th position), and "Institutional Framework" - by 4 spots (50th position) as well.
The country is ranked 34th position upon the "Business Efficiency" factor. Kazakhstan's position on the subfactors "Productivity and Efficiency" decreased by 4 position (42nd position), "Labor Market" decreased by 6 positions (13th position), "Finance" - by 2 positions (42nd position), "Management Practices" by 15 positions (29th position), "Attitudes and Values" - by 22 positions (33rd position).
According to respondents, five most attractive factors of the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan include policy stability and predictability (57.8%), business-friendly environment (55.6%), dynamism of the economy (46.7% respondents), competitive tax regime (41.1%), and effective labor relations (32.2%).
Since 2008 the Republic of Kazakhstan has started to participate in this ranking. The IMD's partner in Kazakhstan is the Economic Research Institute, JSC.
More detailed results of the ranking can be found on the official website of the International Institute for Management Development: http://www.imd.org/wcc/.
