[London 8th Reuters]-World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the 2019 edition of the “Global Competitiveness Report”. Singapore was first and Japan was sixth, down one place from the previous year. The WEF indicated that global productivity has been sluggish despite the $ 10 trillion stimulus package by central banks since the global financial crisis.
WEF is an organization that hosts the annual Davos meeting, where politicians and managers from around the world gather. Based on surveys by the World Bank, the United Nations, etc., the competitiveness of 141 countries / regions was analyzed and their rankings announced.
Singapore is top with 84.8 out of 100. The United States, which was the leader last year, retreated to second place. Japan was 82.3 points, down 0.2 points from the previous year and one place down.
The WEF noted that in many countries the competitiveness of technological innovation is growing faster than the workforce, and that governments should focus on policies in the labor and education sectors.
“The biggest concern is the weakness of the government and the central bank to support economic growth,” said WEF's Sadia Zahidi. "It has become even more important to take policies that increase competitiveness that will lead to correction of income inequality."