Qatar tops competitiveness list of Mena economies

The annual survey ranks 130 countries based on 12 ‘pillars’ of competitiveness, split into three broad categories of basic requirements, efficiency enhancers and innovation factors. The scores are weighted according to wealth bands, with countries with the lowest GDP per capita (under $2,000) scoring more points for basic requirements and those in the highest band ($17,000 and above) skewed towards innovation. Qatar, which was 26th in the overall list, is ranked as in transition between stage 2 and 3, meaning it has annual per capita GDP of $9,000-17,000. It scored a rank of 21 on basic re...