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Georgia Makes Step Forward in Competitiveness Report
While meeting with President Tarja Halonen of Finland on Wednesday, President Mikheil Saakashvili could have done worse than pose a few requests for economic advice. In its Global Competitiveness Index released the same day, the World Economic Forum ranked Finland the world's most competitive economy and placed Georgia at number 86. The good news for Georgia is that since last year the World Economic Forum moved Georgia up 8 spots on the index of 117 countries, the seventh largest leap forward on the list. Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist at the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Program, told the paper on Thursday that Georgia's progress stems from two specific areas measured by the index: macroeconomic stability and public institutions. In the third major area measured, technology, Georgia ranked poorly. "Firstly we see an improvement in the overall macroeconomic stability of the country, which moved from 82nd place last year to 74th place this year. This improvement is due to an improvement in the fiscal situation," she said via e-mail, "Further, business leaders in Georgia feel that access to credit has become easier for business over the past year." The index ranks countries based on their potential to achieve sustained economic growth and was based on surveys with business leaders in every country as well as publicly available information; in Georgia, the World Economic Forum partnered with the Business Initiative for Reforms in Georgia headed by Irakli Burdiladze and Mamuka Tsereteli to complete the report. "But the most striking improvement is with regards to the quality of Georgia's public institutions - an improvement from 101 last year to 87 this year overall," Blanke said.
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