Amir Jahangir, President AGAHI at the launch of Mobile Learning for Education Development

Amir Jahangir, President AGAHI and the Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum launches the collaborative initiative of  Nokia, UNESCO and AGAHI on Mobile Learning for Teacher’s in Pakistan using the Nokia Education Delivery App to facilitate teacher training via mobile phones.

AGAHI, Nokia Pakistan and UNESCO launched the project “Mobile Learning Project for Teacher’s Professional Development” today as formal collaboration in the presence of senior government officials, Nokia representatives and UNESCO representatives. As part of this program, UNESCO and Nokia are joining hands, where Nokia is providing its mobile phones and its application “Nokia Education Delivery (NED) for UNESCO’s project on ‘use of ICT for professional development of public school teachers’ in remote areas.

Since 2011 NED has turned into an open source solution to improve livelihoods, and in order to support such mobile learning innovations to be filled with life in Pakistan, The project will be implemented by AGAHI, a UNESCO partner and a non-profit foundation working in the area of communication and media policy design.

NOKIA

Nokia developed NED to allow using a mobile phone to access and download videos and other educational materials from a constantly updated education library. Operating in hundreds of schools and having reached millions of students in the Philippines, Tanzania, Chile and Colombia, Nokia Education Delivery has been shown to improve study results and increase retention among students.

This collaboration is part of the agreement signed last year between UNESCO and Nokia at international level to promote the use of mobile technologies to further the objectives of “Education for All”. As part of this agreement Nokia is developing applications and new Mobile technologies offering access to information and enrich learning environments at global level.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

In Pakistan, through the project “Mobile Learning for Teachers” Nokia’s Education Delivery application will help UNESCO to enable the delivery of high- quality educational materials to teachers who lack training and resources though mobile phones giving an opportunity to teachers to train themselves on the same level as professionally competent teachers.

UNESCO Director, Kozue Kay Nagata

Speaking about the project, UNESCO Director, Kozue Kai Nagata said, “In 21st century Public- private partnerships are enjoying growing attention and support as a new and sustainable modality for development. We are confident to collaborate with Nokia to provide us with the best platform to train public school teachers. Nokia Education Delivery is fit to match our need of delivering quality training to a large number of public school teachers across Pakistan through the project named “Mobile Learning for Teachers”.

Nokia Education Delivery Information Flow

Speaking about the launch of NED program, Ulrike Vott Nokia Sustainability Manager for Middle East said, “Nokia Education Delivery facilitates education in a fun and interactive way. In addition to the NED software, Nokia offers program implementation support for the benefit of Pakistan’s education landscape.” The Nokia Education Delivery software system has two modules. The first module is installed on a Nokia mobile phone and contains a browse able catalog of educational videos. The second module is installed on the computer of the education administrator. It manages the organization’s mobile video library, so that videos can be added, deleted and updated. It also provides information on the usage of different videos.”

Amir Jahangir, President AGAHI & Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum

Amir Jahangir, President AGAHI and a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, shared his views on the launch that “Pakistan is a knowledge starved country, where universal education has its own challenges. To meet the target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on education, Pakistan needs to address its education challenges through innovation and technology which can reach to a larger population with cost effective solutions”.

This unique pilot project for Pakistan has been initiated by UNESCO and AGAHI aims at using Mobile phones as medium for training teachers, where the teachers in remote areas will be equipped with devices, SIMs, a software solution and high quality educational content. The course for training and capacity building will be developed into video files and will be transmitted step by step according to curriculum on the phones provided to teachers. Over the course of the training period, teachers will be tested via SMS on regular basis and as an incentive, those who will score highest in tests will receive free mobile top ups. At the end of the course, test scores of all teachers will be aggregated and the passing teachers will be awarded certificate in the final workshop.

AGAHI, a not for profit, is UNESCO implementing partner in Pakistan. AGAHI specializes in creating communication, information and media policy design tools, that enables the stakeholders to engage in information collaboration on knowledge-based platforms. AGAHI works in building the capacity of knowledge workers in creating content based on best practices to disseminate information in building a more integrated knowledge ecosystem.

Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia’s technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information.

UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “ further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “ collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image”.

Peshawar Press Club and AGAHI conducts workshop on “Investigative Journalism on Anti-Money Laundering and Funding of Terrorist Organizations”

Journalists from Peshawar Press Club with Puruesh Chaudhary, CIME Ambassador to Pakistan and Amir Jahangir, CEO Mishal and Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum

Journalists trained for investigative journalism and responsible reporting.

 

Peshawar Press Club Logo

Peshawar Press Club along with Khyber Union of Journalists and Mishal Pakistan, a strategic communication policy design social enterprise in collaboration with the Center for International Media Ethics, Zigron Training, Center for Investigative Journalists in Bosnia-Sarajevo, FaithMatters conducted a workshop on Investigative Journalism and Responsible Reporting at the Peshawar Press Club. The workshop was attended by more than 50 press club members.

The initiative, known as Agahi covered areas such as; Investigative Journalism, Media Ethics, Anti-Money-Laundering and Terrorist Organisation Funding, Journalism and Society, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa and the Millennium Development Goals, Reporting in Terrorism and Conflict, Social Media and Safety Training.

Talking to the gathering of the members of the media, Mr. Saif ul Islam Saifi, President of the Peshawar Press Club, expressed his gratitude for creating an opportunity for the journalists and emphasized the need for more training and assured his support from the press club for improving the state of media in Peshawar. He said, “there is a need to upgrade the skills of the journalists on new media tools such as social media and crowd sourcing journalism”. He further said that, “the Peshawar Press Club works for the capacity building and skill development of its members by organizing different professional courses”.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

David Brewer

On a skype video link David Brewer-based out of London and founder ofmedia-helping-media organization, emphasized on applying the public interest test to journalists, which discussed the role of governments and charity organizations in pursuing the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs). He stressed that journalists must read the MDGs with same skepticism that they treat every other beat. Mr. Brewer is one of the pioneers in media development. He has been the founding managing director of BBC News Online Service and the CNN.com.

Shaukat Khattak

Shaukat Khattak, senior journalist and chairman of the capacity building committee of the Peshawar Press Club, also expressed that the Peshawar Press Club realizes the importance of promoting journalism that covers the political and the socio-economic system. He encouraged the need of training provided to the journalists for a better outcome.

 

Puruesh Chaudhary

Puruesh Chaudhary, Ambassador to Pakistan onMedia Ethics on behalf of the Center for International Media Ethics (CIME) emphasized on the formulation of a unified ethics policy for the entire journalistic community to be adopted, implemented and adhered to counter special interest groups and sensationalism. The session dealt with the problems being faced by journalists, which also underscored the need for a joint code of conduct for reporters and cameramen.

Ali Hazrat Bacha, Senior Vice President of the Khyber Union of Journalists raised issues such as lack of training, non-supportive management, unavailability of basic resources, pressure groups, wages and the absence of a unified code of conduct. Ali Hazrat Bacha, Senior Vice President of the Khyber Union of Journalists raised similar concerns and stressed over the lack of resources and support from stakeholders on investigative journalism.

Mishal Pakistan Chief Executive Officer, AmirJahangir in his closing remarks announced 

Amir Jahangir

two scholarships in collaboration with the Peshawar Press Club who wish to enroll for the Masters Programme in Mass Communication, Journalism or Media Studies at any public sector universities or any other degree awarding institution in Peshawar and other parts of KPK. The Peshawar Press Club will help Mishal in identifying the most deserving candidate for this scholarship.

AGAHI

Agahi, aims to utilize institutionalized, sustainable media structures in Pakistan to raise the bar of journalistic standards through training to increasing responsible, balanced reporting and investigative journalism. The initiative is being carried in collaboration with the Press Clubs in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Baluchistan and Azad Kashmir; In these series of interactions with the stakeholders a special Journalism Awards is being created to identify the most respectful and responsible journalists in investigative journalism.

Mishal - CIME

Mishal has an MoU with the Peshawar Press Club to performs due role in promoting educational, literary, cultural and sports activities in the society. With the emergence of new conflict zones in the region, efforts have being made to convert Peshawar press club into a modern media complex, equipped with technological gadgets and professional kits to ensure unhindered flow of information to the world.

Before the establishment of Peshawar Press Club some 45 years ago, the journalists used to sit and attend press conferences in a single room allocated in famous Deans Hotel. It was in 2001, when the first-ever separate building for the Peshawar Press Club was constructed. Apart from being a cultural and welfare oriented body of the journalists, the Peshawar Press Club is also known as a symbol of democracy and freedom of press, as all the political parties, civil society organizations are provided equal opportunities to present their view points on any issue to the world.

Mishal, launched in 2003, has been engaged with some of the most dynamic organizations in the region to develop their communication strategy and solutions for better understand and creating synergies between different entities.

Mishal has been at the forefront of communications solutions and is actively pursuing to improve the state of media and journalism in Pakistan.

Taking this initiative to the next level Mishal has been actively pursuing to build the capacity of the media in creating better understanding the issues in global perspective.

The team behind Mishal has been developing, creating and managing media entities and content for the last 20 years at various platforms.

Mishal has undertaken the task to build the capacity of the Press Clubs and Associations in Pakistan by creating a knowledge-sharing learning platform for the media and journalists across Pakistan. The initiative will build the capacity through interactive workshops, conferences, collaborative thinking and media and journalism awards for the professionals in the field of journalism and media.

AGAHI in collaboration with the TUJ aims to identify and build capacity of the journalists on social issues and economic opportunities encouraging diversity and pluralism of the Media in FATA and FR.

Mishal and Tribal Union of Journalists Officials with CIME Ambassador to Pakistan

AGAHI - an investigative journalism initiative for the journalism community in Pakistan

Mishal Pakistan to launch AGAHI in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Frontier Regions (FR). A meeting between Mishal and the Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ) was held at TUJ’s Head office in Peshawar. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the two entities on capacity building and training initiatives for the journalists in FATA and FR.

The Tribal Union of Journalists is the representative body of the journalists from the FATA and the FR.; comprising of seven Tribal Agencies (Mohmand Agency, Bajaur Agency, NorthWaziristan, South Waziristan, Khyber Agency, Orakzai Agency and Kurram Agency) and its adjacent Six Frontier Regions (FR Peshawar, FR Bannu, FR Dera Ismail Khan, FR Kohat, FR Lakki Marwat and FR Tank). More than 250 journalists are registered members of TUJ working with local, national and international media. The Tribal Union of Journalists is the first-ever journalistic body in the history of FATA. The members of TUJ realize the importance of promoting journalism that covers the political system and the much-needed socio-economic sector.

Tribal Union of Journalists (TUJ)

The collaboration between Mishal and TUJ will help both organizations to identify the elements contributing to the disconnect with the mainstream news agenda and the gaps within the reporting structure by building the capacity of the journalists from FATA and FR on investigative journalism, media ethics, conflict and hazard reporting, interfaith and anti-money laundering.

Tribal Union of Journalists President, Safdar Hayat Khan Dawar with CEO Mishal, Amir Jahangir

The President of the expressed the need for training on socio-economic issues for the journalists without being exposed to life-endangering threats and extended the union’s cooperation towards Mishal’s Media Development Initiative. He said that the Tribal Union of Journalists is the only body in FATA that has struggled for the protection of the journalists in an area where Press Laws do not exist.

The journalists from FATA and the Frontier Regions have been feeding the global news grid over the last decade by reporting on war on terror, as a result of which the Chief Executive Officer of Mishal Pakistan, Amir Jahangir believes that in the process the social face of FATA has been lost. He explained to TUJ that the journalists should immediately start contributing on issues that cover the social and economic dimensions of their respective agencies and regions and for this purpose Mishal intends to contribute in terms of providing the knowledge platform. Jahangir a strategic communication and media professional was honoured as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for his initiatives on improving the state of media in Pakistan.

Mishal Pakistan

Mishal Pakistan is a strategic communications company established in 2003. It has undertaken the Media Development Initiative in Pakistan encouraging diversity and pluralisticcontent development facilitating the journalists through knowledge-sharing platforms in understanding issues in global perspective. Tobolster best practices and to promote original journalism which highlights a socially responsible media; Mishal has memorandum of understanding with the press clubs and journalist associations. There are over a hundred press clubs in the country, which gives Mishal the capacity of over 30,000 journalists across Pakistan.

AGAHI, a programme recently launched by Mishal Pakistan, is increasing the capacity of Investigative and Responsible Journalism in the country. This programme aims to use institutionalized sustainable media structures in Pakistan to raise the bar of journalisticstandards. The programme works in collaboration with the Center for International Media Ethics, Faith Matters, Center for Investigative Journalists in Bosnia-Sarajevo, Naya Jeevan and Zigron Training. The programme has successfully created a debate amongst the journalists from Multan, Karachi, Rawalpindi/Islamabad and Mirpur-AJK on media ethics, interfaith, anti-money laundering and the importance of investigative journalism.

The signing ceremony was also attended by the Center for International Media Ethics Ambassador to Pakistan, Puruesh Chaudhary and by other members of TUJ from the tribal belt, which included North Waziristan and Bajaur Agency.

NUST to launch Innovation Arbitrage Council at the Innovation Leadership Summit 4 August 2010

Amir Jahangir

The summit will announce the launching of an advisory council “Innovation Arbitrage Council” (IAC) that will have varied business executives on its panel including Mohsin Iqbal, a distinguished technology business executive who has represented companies like Intel and HP in Asia Pacific, and Amir Jahangir, CEO, Mishal, and Advisor to Stanford Center for Innovation and Communication, Stanford University, who has been honoured as the Young Global Leader 2010 by the World Economic Forum, both who played an instrumental role in crystallizing the idea to form the council on innovation.

Published for the ninth consecutive year with an extensive coverage of 133 economies worldwide, the Global Information Technology Report remains the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.

World Economic Forum honors Amir Jahangir as Young Global Leader for 2010.

Islamabad, March 04: Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates across the world. The honour, bestowed each year by the World Economic Forum, recognizes and acknowledges up to 200 outstanding young leaders from around the world for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world.

This year, Amir Jahangir, Chief Executive Officer of SAMAA TV, Pakistan’s leading private news channels has been honored as one of the Young Global Leaders for 2010. Mr. Jahangir has been acknowledged for his profound leadership quality in promoting innovative media communication models addressing socio-economic issues and contributing to improving the lives of marginalized communities in Pakistan, thus improving the state of the world.

He is also one of the key media leaders, who have been working towards establishing a new media-age in Pakistan. This new media trend is based on responsible reporting, driven by innovation journalism techniques aimed at delivering solutions for sustaining socio-economic growth and improving Pakistan’s competitiveness.

Being one of the most inspiring media leaders in Pakistan, Mr. Jahangir has carried out many landmark initiatives to build Pakistan as a progressive nation. Some of the most applauded initiatives include health, education, curbing extremism and terrorism, and environment. Under the health, banner the Polio Control Cell, a joint initiative of SAMAA with UNICEF Pakistan, World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, Government of Pakistan; the Polio Control Cell was launched in October 2008 as an innovative health communication model aimed at eradicating Polio in Pakistan. The model has now been adopted as the National Polio Control Cell by all leading public and private broadcasters and other private organizations and are actively engaged in providing 35 million children under the age of five the opportunity to a polio free future. The model has also been applauded by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation as a role model to be replicated in other epidemic countries.

Amir Jahangir has also carried out specific programs aimed at empowering the youth against extremism and terrorism and promote a better and secure future for the future generations.

“The World Economic Forum is a true multistakeholder community of global decision-makers in which the Young Global Leaders represent the voice for the future and the hopes of the next generation. The diversity of the YGL community and its commitment to shaping a better future through action-oriented initiatives of public interest is even more important at a time when the world is in need of new energy to solve intractable challenges,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jahangir said “In today’s world, where our daily lives are faced by immense challenges, both economically and socially, the need for leadership has become even more pivotal. In a globalized world our country need leadership at all levels and sectors. We need people of all ages from all backgrounds to take advantage of the myriad of opportunities that exist to make a difference”

Jahangir further added that “We all possess the capacity for leadership, but only those who cultivate for the betterment of others will ever become truly effective leaders. Our country has a vast of young talent and we need to create opportunities for them to come forward and inspire others in striving towards excellence and making a difference for a world where we can all coexist in peace and harmony”

Drawn from a pool of almost 5,000 candidates, the Young Global Leaders 2010 were chosen by a selection committee, chaired by H.M. Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and comprised of eminent international media leaders.

The selection committee composed of the world’s top professionals and chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This honor is bestowed by the World Economic Forum each year to recognize the most distinguished young leaders nominated below the age of 40 from around the world.

The selections were carried out after carefully screening the profiles of thousands young leaders from every region of the world and from a myriad of disciplines and sectors. Amir Jahangir’s selection was made in recognition of his record of professional accomplishments, his commitment to society and potential to contribute to shaping the future of the world through his inspiring leadership.

Amir Jahangir will be joining The Forum of Young Global Leaders as an active community member. The YGL community forms a unique global network of peers from diverse backgrounds and fields, with a highly visible opportunity to significantly impact world affairs and shape the global agenda.

The 2010 honourees will become part of the broader Forum of Young Global Leaders community that currently comprises 660 outstanding individuals. The YGLs convene at an annual summit – this year it will be in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 2-7 May 2010, the first time in Africa and the largest ever gathering of YGLs – as well as at Forum events and meetings throughout the year.

The Forum of Young Global Leaders was established in 2004 by Professor Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a unique, multi-stakeholder community of the world’s most extraordinary young leaders who dedicate a part of their time to jointly address global challenges and who are committed to devote part of their knowledge and energy to collectively work towards a better future.

Together the Young Global Leaders work to discover innovative solutions to today’s most pressing problems through various initiatives and work streams as well as catalyzing the next generation of leaders.

Every year the Young Global Leaders participate in Annual Summits where approximately 200 YGLs from around the globe meet to learn with each other and from each other within a global network of peers. The Forum of YGL organizes regular events throughout the year including the YGL Summits, which provide an opportunity for fellow YGLs to meet, share ideas and discuss ways to collectively shape the future.

The Kennedy School Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century Module provides a convening opportunity for the YGLs to gain critical skills and knowledge in key issue areas as well as leadership skills. This year the 2010 YGL Annual Summit will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 2-7 May.

The World Economic Forum was founded in 1971 in Geneva, Switzerland as an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Pakistan shows slight improvement on the Innovation Pillar of the Global Competitiveness Index 2009-2010 of the World Economic Forum; improves 3 ranks from last year

Switzerland tops the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, released by the World Economic Forum. The United States falls one place to second position, with weakening in its financial markets and macroeconomic stability. Singapore, Sweden and Denmark round out the top five. European economies continue to prevail in the top 10 with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands following suit. The United Kingdom, while remaining very competitive, has continued its fall from last year, moving down one more place this year to 13th, mainly attributable to continuing weakening of its financial markets.

The People’s Republic of China continues to lead the way among large developing economies, improving by one place this year, solidifying its position among the top 30. Among the three other large BRIC economies, Brazil and India also improve, while Russia falls by 12 places. Several Asian economies perform strongly with Japan, Hong Kong SAR, Republic of Korea and Taiwan, China also in the top 20. In Latin America, Chile is the highest ranked country, followed by Costa Rica and Brazil.

Like last year, Pakistan ranks 101st. Still at an early stage of development, the country fails to improve significantly on any of the basic determinants of its competitiveness, namely institutions (104th), infrastructure (89th). It shows slight improvements in the macroeconomic stability (114th), Health and primary education (113th), and higher education (118th). Pakistan also showed improvements in Innovation and Sophistication Factors from 85 last year to 84 this year.

On business sophistication it improved 6 ranks and stands at 81. The Innovation index has improved from 82 in 2008-2009 to 79 in the 2009-2010. However, to make things worse, the threat of terrorism bears heavily on the business community.

The Global Competitiveness Report has, over the last three decades, become one of the world’s most respected assessments of national competitiveness, providing a mirror image of a nation’s economic environment and its ability to achieve sustained levels of prosperity and growth. In view of presenting an image that is as close to reality as possible, the World Economic Forum draws its data from two sources: international hard data sources and the Executive Opinion Survey (Survey).The Survey is a unique tool for capturing timely and vital information that is not available on a global level. It captures the perception of business executives about the environment in which they operate, thus imparting a unique source of insight about the competitiveness of their economy.

The World Economic Forum has conducted the annual Survey for 30 years. The Survey has evolved over time to capture new data points essential to the Global Competitiveness Index and several other projects. The Survey has also expanded in its scope of completion, achieving this year a record sample of over 13,000 surveys from 133 countries between January and May 2009.

Following the editing process a total of 12,614 surveys were retained globally. This represents an average of 95 respondents per country. Table 1 shows key attributes of the Survey respondents for the 2009 dataset. The Survey is divided into 13 sections related to the 12 pillars of the Global Competitiveness Index, and includes a general “About your company” section capturing information about the respondent’s company as well. The data gathered thus provide a unique source of insight and a qualitative portrait of each nation’s economic and business environment, and how it compares with the situation in other countries. Given the scope of the Survey’s coverage and in order to maximize its outreach, it is translated into more than 20 languages.

This year Pakistan submitted almost 300 Executive Opinion Surveys, out of 300 only 1% were submitted online. 41% of the companies had less then 100 employees, while 28% represented the SMEs with 101 to 500 employees in the company. The Survey had 9%, 14% and 6% representations of organizations with employees between 501 to 1000, 1001 to 5000 and 5001 to 20000 respectively. Only 2% of the respondents represented the large scale entities with more than 20000 employees.

The most problematic factors for doing business in Pakistan according to the Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010

PAKISTAN’s BALANCE SHEET ON THE GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS INDEX 2209-2010

Pakistan showed advantages in a few sub-indices amongst the 134 economies, namely: available seat kilometer 48, HIV prevalence 15, total tax rate 22, hiring and firing practices 38, financing through local equity market 45, strength of investor protection 24, domestic market size index 24 and state of cluster development 50

A number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa region are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf States, which continue their upward trend of recent years. In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Mauritius and Botswana feature in the top half of the rankings, with a number of other countries from the region measurably improving their competitiveness.

Click here to read the highlights of the Report.

“The strong interdependence among the world’s economies makes this a truly global economic crisis in every sense. Policy-makers are presently struggling with ways of managing these new economic challenges, while preparing their economies to perform well in a future economic landscape characterized by growing uncertainty. In a difficult global economic environment, it is more important than ever for countries to put into place strong fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA, and co-author of the Report added, “Amid the present crisis, it is critical that policy-makers not lose sight of long-term competitiveness fundamentals amid short-term urgencies. Competitive economies are those that have in place factors driving the productivity enhancements on which their present and future prosperity is built. A competitiveness-supporting economic environment can help national economies to weather business cycle downturns and ensure that the mechanisms enabling solid economic performance going into the future are in place.”
The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of Partner Institutes (leading research institutes and business organizations) in the countries covered by the Report. This year, over 13,000 business leaders were polled in 133 economies.

The survey is designed to capture a broad range of factors affecting an economy’s business climate. The Report also includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities for policy reform.

The Global Competitiveness Report’s competitiveness ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), developed for the World Economic Forum by Sala-i-Martin and introduced in 2004. The GCI is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness, providing a comprehensive picture of the competitiveness landscape in countries around the world at all stages of development. The pillars include Institutions, Infrastructure, Macroeconomic Stability, Health and Primary Education, Higher Education and Training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labour Market Efficiency, Financial Market Sophistication, Technological Readiness, Market Size, Business Sophistication, and Innovation.

The Report contains a detailed profile for each of the 133 economies featured in the study, providing a comprehensive summary of the overall position in the rankings as well as the most prominent competitive advantages and disadvantages of each country/economy based on the analysis used in computing the rankings. Also included is an extensive section of data tables with global rankings for over 110 indicators.

This year’s Report also includes a number of discussions of selected countries and regions including the United States, the large emerging BRIC economies and the 12 recent accession members of the European Union, providing an in-depth analysis of the issues affecting national competitiveness.

	Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics, Columbia University, USA Watch the interview
	Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist, Head of Global Competitiveness Network, World Economic Forum Watch the interview
	Thierry Geiger, Economist, Global Leadership Fellow, World Economic Forum Watch the interview (Français)
	Margareta Drzeniek Hanouz, Senior Economist, Global Competitiveness Network, World Economic Forum Watch the interview (Deutsch)
	Irene Mia, Director, Senior Economist, Global Competitiveness Network, World Economic Forum Watch the interview (Espanol)