A slightly better macroeconomic environment helps Viet Nam move up five positions on the global competitiveness list.

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam has moved up five positions to rank 70^th on the 2013-14 global competitiveness list issued by the World Economic Forum, regaining half of the ground it lost last year.

The report said this progression was mainly the result of a slightly better macroeconomic environment, which was ranked 87^th among world nations, up 19 positions. After jumping to almost 20 percent, inflation was back to single-digit levels in 2012, also strengthening the country's position and improvements to the quality of transport and energy infrastructures saw this ranking jump 13 places to 82^nd.

Viet Nam also advanced in the goods market efficiency pillar to 74th, up 17 positions, thanks to lower trade barriers and a lower tax rate for businesses.

Despite these encouraging developments, the foundation of Viet Nam's economy and prosperity remained fragile. The country sits below 55th place in every criteria except for market size where it occupies 36th.

It lost ground in several areas of the Index, including labour market efficiency - down five to 56^th - and financial market development at 93rd, also down five.

Another area of concern is technological readiness, where the country slipped four places to 102nd. Although new technologies were spreading among the population, Vietnamese businesses were particularly slow to adopt the latest technologies in their sector, thus forfeiting significant productivity gains through technological transfer.

As in previous years, this year's top 10 was dominated by a number of European countries, with Switzerland, Finland, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom confirming their places among the most competitive economies. Switzerland retained top spot again this year as a result of its continuing strong performance across the board.

Three Asian countries also figured in the top 10, with Singapore remaining the second-most competitive economy in the world, while Hong Kong and Japan placed 7th and 9th. It is worth noting that a vast majority of the top 10 most competitive economies share strengths in innovation and strong institutional frameworks.

The report was captured within the Global Competitiveness Index by including a weighted average of many different components, each measuring a different aspect of competitiveness.

These components are grouped into 12 pillars of competitiveness: institution, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation. — VNS