According to WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report, Hungary is 60th among the 137 inspected countries with a competitiveness index of 4.3, falling just behind Slovakia. Based on the report, the improvement is mostly due to technological advances, namely the expansion of residential internet use. In the business sector, financial markets were favorable and the business and innovation environment improved.

The report lists an inadequately educated workforce, corruption and tax rates as the three most problematic factors in the Hungarian economy, in addition to low access to financing and policy instability.

Hungary ranked especially badly in categories such as judicial independence, property rights, use of public funds, the efficiency of legal frameworks in challenging regulations, and transparency of policy-making. In the latter category, Hungary was only 125th out of the 137 inspected countries.

The Switzerland-based World Economic Forum has been publishing its annual Global Competitiveness Report since 2003. Its Global Competitiveness Index is one of the most complex competitiveness models, consisting of 114 indicators that express productivity and long-term growth potential.

Source: The Budapest Beacon

Republished with permission