Croatia Keeps Pace with Global Changes, Progress Requires Implementation of Structural Reforms

The fact that we have maintained the same position as last year does not mean that we are stagnating, but rather that we are running at the same pace as other countries – emphasized Ivica Mudrinić, president of the National Council for Competitiveness (NVK) at the presentation of the results of the “Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016,” in which Croatia ranked 77th, maintaining the same position as last year.

Switzerland, as the most competitive country in the world, has retained its leadership in the rankings this year, followed by Singapore, the USA, Germany, and the Netherlands. Among the countries we compare ourselves to, Slovenia (+11 places), Slovakia (+8), the Czech Republic (+6), Macedonia, Romania, and Poland have made progress. Croatia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia have maintained last year’s position, while Hungary and Montenegro have recorded a drop of 3 places.

– Thirty years ago, we would have been first among these countries, but the war set us back, and in the meantime, we missed some other opportunities for change – stated Mudrinić.

Croatia, in 77th place with a score of 4.1, keeps pace with global changes. Significant progress requires the implementation of structural reforms crucial for long-term sustainable economic development. There are still clearly visible areas where more intensive reforms are needed, especially in the macroeconomic environment, where a drop of 16 places has been observed, and in the development of the financial market, which has dropped by 14 places.

This year’s results for Croatia show a slight improvement in the assessment of higher education and training (51st), labor market efficiency (105th), technological readiness (43rd), and innovation (92nd), while there is again a noticeable decline in the assessment of the macroeconomic environment (107th) and the development of the financial market (88th).

– Competitiveness does not mean low labor costs, as we see from the leading countries in the rankings, but is based on innovation, creativity, and knowledge. If we want to be competitive, we must invest in education – Mudrinić emphasized, adding that our potential is far above what we have realized.

The research on global competitiveness is based on the opinions of more than 14,000 executives from 140 countries and official statistics, and Croatia has been included since 2002. The World Economic Forum defines competitiveness as a set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The methodology is based on the analysis of 12 competitiveness factors, which include institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and basic education, higher education and training, labor market efficiency, goods market efficiency, technological readiness, financial market, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.