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Morocco is ranked 71st by the World Bank’s new Arab Competitiveness report. Covering Arab countries , the survey released on Tuesday, 14th of August, grants the Kingdom 4.24 points out of 7.
Although the North African country managed to maintain the same score as last year, it has lagged in the ranking that was topped this year by Switzerland, the United States and Singapore. Morocco lost one place, compared to 2017 when it was positioned 70th in the world.
In the Middle East and the North African region (MENA), Morocco is ranked 8th, behind the United Arab Emirates 17th, Qatar 25th, Saudi Arabia 30th, Bahrain 44th, Kuwait 52nd, Oman 62nd, Jordan 65th and Iran 69th.
In North Africa, Morocco heads the list that includes, Algeria 86th, Tunisia 95th, Egypt 100th and Mauritania 133rd. Libya was not covered by the ranking.
Corruption and bureaucracy
The yearly report published by the World Economic Forum is divided into three major sub-indexes. Morocco is ranked 57rd in the Basic Requirements category which focuses on institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education. The country scored 4.8 out of 7 points, in this sub-index.
For the Efficiency Enhances indicator, which sheds light on the efficiency of higher education, goods and labor markets, financial market development, technological readiness and market size, the Kingdom is positioned 85th with only 3.9 points.
Morocco is 74th in the world when it comes to the Innovation and Sophistication factors, scoring 3.6 points.
The Global Competitiveness Index which measures national competitiveness and defines the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity, stresses that corruption is the main problem that hinders Morocco’s competitiveness.
Inefficient government bureaucracy comes next, followed by the difficulty of accessing financing, tax rates, the inadequately educated workforce, and the country’s incapacity to innovate.
Poor work ethic in national labor force, restrictive labor regulations, foreign currency regulations, policy instability, poor public health, inflation, crime and theft, and government instability are also problematic for doing business in Morocco.
The authors of the report believe that Morocco’s economy is an efficiency-driven one that lays in the second category. The latter includes countries like Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Brazil.
