IDA Ireland has welcomed the news that the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2013 saw Ireland rise three places to number 17 in overall competitiveness rankings. Ireland also made significant improvements in areas including government finances, growth and inflation. More than half the executives surveyed for the report identified a competitive tax regime, skilled workforce, business friendly environment, and high educational levels as key attractiveness factors in Ireland.
Ireland ranks:
• 3rd for availability of skilled labour
• 1st for flexibility and adaptability of workforce
• 1st for attitudes to globalisation
• 1st for investment incentives
Welcoming the results of the survey, Barry O’Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland said, ‘Ireland’s increase from 20th to 17th in the overall rankings in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook is excellent news for Ireland’s foreign direct investment landscape. Competition for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remains strong and our ranking as 3rd for the availability of skilled labour is very good news for Ireland as this is a key factor in attracting FDI.’
‘Ireland’s results in this survey show that our country’s value proposition as a location for FDI continues to improve despite strong competition from other countries and on-going global economic challenges.’
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) is reputed as being the worldwide reference point on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analyzing how an economy manages the totality of its resources and competencies to increase the prosperity ot its population. It has been published since 1989 and compares the competitiveness of 60 nations on the basis of over 300 criteria. It is based on hard data statistics and a business executives’ opinion survey.
