Finland is on the top of GCI

The World Economic Forum looks at countries' competitiveness through both ends of the economist's telescope--the macro end and the micro one.

The macro measure is the Global Competitive Index, in which &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/region/2002/12/05/40437.html ' target=_blank>Finland beat out the U.S. for the top position this year. The Business Competitive Index reflects the micro measure: how hospitable a country is to business and how well companies exploit the business environment they find themselves in. Here the U.S. has regained the top spot in the BCI it yielded to Finland last year.

As the main reasons, the WEF cites the sophistication of U.S. companies' marketing, the availability of venture capital, the intensity of local competition and the quality and quantity of local suppliers.

Big-economy countries do much better in this ranking than they do in the Growth Competitiveness Index. Germany, the U.K., &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/379/13758_china.html ' target=_blank>Japan and the Netherlands all make the top ten in the BCI, whereas only Japan joins the U.S. among the Global CI's elite, reports Forbes.

According to the Scotsman News, the UK is the 11th most competitive economy in the world, according to the World Economic Forum’s rankings.

The UK was praised for promoting a &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/economics/2000/11/25/1132.html ' target=_blank>good business environment, but the WEF cited its relatively poor infrastructure and inadequately- educated workforce as two key problems facing the country.

The UK’s eleventh place ranking put it above Germany (13), France (27) and Italy (47).

Japan, which was number nine, rose from 21 in 2001, boosted in part by its economic recovery. China fell from 44 to 46, despite its roaring economic success of late. The decline was noted because of the country's extensive red tape and poor accounting standards.