Bahrain tops global and regional rankings in 2022
Bahrain has been ranked first globally for female digital skills training and STEM education plan in the The Economist Impact and Meta – The Inclusive Internet Index 2022.
The country has also been ranked third in the world for women with degrees, fifth for skilled labour, and seventh for finance skills in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2022.
This was revealed by top officials from the Economic Development Board and the Finance and National Economy Ministry during a media briefing yesterday held to highlight the kingdom’s keenness to enhance its competitive investment environment on regional and global levels, in line with the priorities and objectives of the Economic Recovery Plan.
Commenting on national achievements in 2022, Nada Al Saeed, chief of strategy at the EDB, noted that the Telecommunications, Information and Communications technology (ICT) and Digital Economy Sector Strategy (2022-20260), which comes as part of developing priority sectors under the Economic Recovery Plan, aims to improve the kingdom’s overall global position in the e-Participation index of the United Nations (UN) eGovernment Survey.
Dr Faisal Isa Hammad, assistant under-secretary for competitiveness and economic indicators at the Finance and National Economy Ministry, highlighted that the kingdom has been ranked amongst the top ten countries in 56 indicators that measure various fields, as Bahrain made its debut last year in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, which assesses the efficiency of countries in managing their resources to achieve economic prosperity.
The ministry closely monitors Bahrain’s ranking in global reports, and conducts detailed analyses and in-depth studies to identify strengths as well as opportunities for improvement in relevant fields.
“These reports help in making data-driven recommendations that are in line with global best practices in order to enhance economic policy. Our team tracks Bahrain’s performance on reputable global reports that evaluate Bahrain’s competitiveness in various sectors, such as business environment, innovation, finance, regulations, policy-making, and human capital,” Dr Hammad remarked.
“The data analysis processs then contributes to creating initiatives and reforms that have a positive impact on Bahrain’s economy. In order to develop leading policies, we take into account the best global standards and practices implemented in different countries across the world, while also analysing their relevance within the legislative system and culture in the kingdom,” he added.
Bahrain ranked first in Mena for financial freedom, investment freedom, and trade freedom (Heritage foundation – Index of Economic Freedom 2022), as well as economic freedom (The Fraser Institute – Economic Freedom of the World 2022).
Bahrain also topped the GCC for effective regulations (The Fraser Institute – Economic Freedom of the World 2022), a testament to its forward-looking regulatory framework.
Additionally, the kingdom ranked 1st in the GCC for the stocks of inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) relative to 2021 GDP according to the Information and eGovernment Authority, which stood at 85 per cent of the national GDP.
It also ranked 11th globally for FDI Greenfield projects (FDI Intelligence of the Financial Times – Greenfield FDI Performance Index Report 2022).
Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/1195587
