The competitiveness Index reveals: Israel has fallen to 20th place

The economic and bureaucratic situation of the State of Israel is not encouraging: The 2018 World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2018 International Competitiveness Index reveals that Israel has fallen to 20th place in the International Competition Index from 16th place in the past year. This is a new competitive index - GCI 4.0, which includes weights and other parameters that were not taken into account in past indices. The top five places in the new competitiveness index were the United States, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland and Japan respectively, while the last and least respected (140) in the competitiveness index is the African Republic Chad.

The report indicates that there are a number of factors that threaten the growth of the Israeli economy, as evidenced by the low scores received by Israel in the government bureaucracy (59), the time it takes to open a business in Israel (74) and the costs associated with opening a business in Israel (50) 45) out of the 140 countries included in the index, which indicates a great deal of space for improving the burden of regulation and bureaucracy.
In addition, Israel is ranked very low in several important parameters, such as the complexity of tariffs and payments (81), ease of employment of foreign workers (125) and government budgetary transparency (90). There is also a worrying decline in infrastructure and the rating of day and air services (42) and the quality of vocational training (37).
Shraga Brosh, president of the Manufacturers Association of Israel, said: "Israel's deterioration in the Global Competitiveness Index should turn a red light on all senior government officials, because contrary to what they are trying to convey to us, our economic future does not bode well. And it is not a secret that everyone preaches it, and I believe that everyone is interested in this, but the only way to achieve results in this area is to discover leadership, decision-making and taking practical steps, Certain, a Unification of powers in one place, setting short and real timetables for carrying out operations and obtaining permits required by the state. " Brosh goes on to say that, "In the end, only determined and decisive action, which will concentrate authority in one place and enable investors to complete all the bureaucratic procedures required in a short time and known in advance, will make a real difference. In the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and others - most of the attempts to reduce regulation do not materialize and do not create any change.
The bright spot in the competitiveness report is that Israel has managed to maintain its status as the "start-up" nation when it ranks 1st in the 140 countries, in terms of the development of start-ups, the ratio of entrepreneurs and the expenditure of research and development companies. In addition, Israel is in 10th place in the patent filing index and second place in the risk capital availability index. In addition, we are in sixth place in the index of integrating women into the workforce.
As for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the report notes that in recent years the rate of economic reforms in the region has accelerated after integrating economic, social and political revolutions, and a prolonged period of low oil prices forced many countries to take more concrete action to balance When social tensions and high unemployment in the region drew the attention of governments towards creating more jobs in the private sector, especially for young people, while future trends in the oil sector remained uncertain due to uncertainty about prices and production levels. Readiness and Limited Access Zor area of ​​information technologies and in innovation except in Israel, fertility problems
The report also shows that after a decade of "lost" economic recovery is in full swing, with the world economy expected to grow nearly 4% in 2018 and 2019, but the growth rate is limited even in the best times, with today's economy and the business environment more and more Unsafe, challenging and complex economic recovery remains vulnerable to potential risks.