Global Competitiveness Report says Belize needs to be more competitive

The Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), published annually by the World Economic Forum, assesses how productively a country uses available resources to provide high levels of prosperity to citizens. The 2011–2012 report has been released and for the first time, Belize was included as one of the one hundred and forty-two major and emerging economies. But the Jewel’s competitiveness is ranked extremely low at one hundred and twenty-three. The report says that the low ranking is “due to weak institutions, especially in terms of lack of security, poor infrastructure, and an insufficient level of competition that hinders efficient allocation of resources in the goods market.” In respect of education, Belize scored well for primary school enrollment, but the rate of persons pursuing higher education is very low and according to the GCR, so is the quality of the overall educational system. The report advises that the country’s competitive edge can be boosted if policies are put in place to address those weaknesses. The only other Caribbean country to rank worse than Belize is Haiti at one hundred and forty-one.