GENEVA
Pakistan has been ranked at 114 among the 138 countries being evaluated on the Global Trade Enabling Index of the World Economic Forum. There are number of challenges in Pakistan’s economy which effects country’s performance on Global Enabling Trade Index. However, despite challenging environment, Pakistan offers relatively efficient border administration systems for enabling trade with Pakistan, a report of the World Economic Forum said here Wednesday. “Pakistan’s performance on the four sub-indices is also reflective of its integration into the global trade, where Pakistan has been ranked as 128 on
Market Access, 71 on Border Administration, 95 on the Transport and
Communications Infrastructure and 123 on the Business Environment”, this was revealed by Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, a country partner institute of the World Economic Forum.
Among the SAARC countries, Pakistan outperformed Bangladesh and Nepal at 115 and 116 respectively on the Global Trade Enabling Index but lacked behind Sri Lanka (84), India (96) and Bhutan (107).
The report’s Enabling Trade Index indicates that the world’s large emerging economies face enormous challenges as they seek to enable trade and progress to the next stage of their development. Barriers to trade are holding back the global economic recovery. Many governments are still failing to enact sometimes-straightforward reforms that could have a far-reaching effect on growth and social progress, according to The Global Enabling Trade Report (GETR).
Among the BRICs, China, the world’s largest exporter, ranks 54th out of 138 economies, a few notches ahead of South Africa (59th). Brazil (86th), India (96th) and the Russian Federation (105th) achieve disappointing performances, appearing in the bottom half of the ranking. Turkey (56th) leads the MINT group, ahead of Indonesia (58th) and Mexico (61st). Nigeria (124th) is near the bottom.
Common barriers to trade in the developing and emerging world include red tape at borders, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and low levels of security. Among advanced economies, most apply low import tariffs, but some, such as Switzerland, Norway and EU members, have complex tariff regimes that are hard to navigate.
The Global Enabling Trade Report 2014 assesses the performance of 138 economies, in four areas: market access; border administration; infrastructure; and the operating environment. At the top end of the scale, the Index shows Singapore, Hong Kong SAR, and the Netherlands as the most successful countries in terms of enabling trade.
To measure these various aspects, a total of 56 individual indicators were sourced from various international organizations, including the International Trade Centre, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Bank, as well as World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. The Executive Opinion Survey is done by Mishal Pakistan in close collaboration with WEF in Pakistan. Other data partners include the Global Express Association.