Bader partners with WEF for competitiveness report

Works on law proposals to encourage innovation

The World Economic Forum (WEF) will conduct the annual Executive Opinion Survey 2013 for the fourth consecutive year, in partnership with Bader Young Entrepreneurs Program. As of mid-February, top company executives have been asked to complete a confidential survey to capture their opinion on the business environment. The survey results will be used as a basis for the country’s ranking in the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2013. Robert Fadel, Chairman of Bader, said: “Our partnership with the WEF for the fourth consecutive year has enabled us to include Lebanon in this classification but we hope that local authorities will start acting to develop and implement short- and medium-term plans to address the gaps.”

Fadel said Bader is preparing two drafts to encourage competitiveness and innovation and will work with authorities to turn the proposals into draft laws.

According to Fadel, Lebanon has many elements of competitiveness, mainly in the fields of health, primary education, training, financial market development, and the quality of local companies. Still, he said, more efforts are needed in the fields of infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, and the overall institutional environment, as well as encouraging innovation.

In the 2012 Global Competitiveness Report, Lebanon ranked 91st out of 144 states. It came in 89th place out of 142 states in 2011 and in 92nd place out of 139 states in 2010.