The Arab World Competitiveness Review 2010

The Arab World Competitiveness Review 2010 finds that the global economic crisis has further widened the competitiveness gap between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the rest of the Arab world region. The review, published ahead of the 2010 World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa, sees Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait outperforming other economies at a similar level of development in terms of competitiveness. In the overall ranking of 139 economies, they place 17th, 21st and 35th.United Arab Emirates is the only economy from the region that has reached the most advanced innovation-driven stage of development because of its diversified structure. It places 23rd within this group and 25th overall. Kuwait places second among the factor-driven economies (lowest stage of development).