Panama’s judiciary near bottom of leading world indicator
(newsroompanama.com) The independence of Panama’s judiciary is rated 125 out of 133 countries in The Global Competitiveness Index released by The World Economic Forum’ (WEF).
The country is also losing ground in terms of competitiveness , because of corruption and bureaucracy.
Panama, which last year took second place in continental Latin America and the first in Central America, has been overtaken this year by Costa Rica and Brazil and has dropped to 59th position overall.
Of the 10 countries of Latin America, only Panama and Chile-the most competitive economy in the region, have lost ground over the previous year.
The WEF index assesses the competitiveness of 133 countries around the world based on indicators such as institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health, education and business sophistication.
Panama has been a sharp decline in "labor market efficiency" (12 positions), which measures the difficulty of hiring and firing employees or the participation of women in the workforce.
Panama also lost out in "infrastructure" ratings, down12 positions less to 67, behind China, Ireland, Slovakia and Sri Lanka.
Nicolas Ardito Barletta, director of the National Competitiveness Center, says there is a lack of development of streets and avenues or infrastructure for tourism.
Higher education and the preparation of the workforce also lost points for Panama.
On the positive side, the report emphasizes improvements in macro economic stability innovation and business sophistication.
In "financial market sophistication," Panama is ranked 22 in the overall index.
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Original Source: Newsroompanama.com
Date Retrieved: October 21, 2010.
