MOHAMMAD GHAZAL (ABU DHABI)
The UAE is ranked the first in the world in being different, distinctive, dynamic, and unique, indicating its exceptional readiness to tackle challenges in the global economy, and the UAE is on the top of the list of countries to watch, according to the US News Best Countries rankings for 2023 published recently.
The UAE is the 10th most powerful country in the world exceeding countries like India, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Sweden and many others in the survey’s subranking of Power, which is based on scores from six country attributes that relate to a country’s power: a leader, economically influential, has strong exports, politically influential, strong international alliances and strong military.
The 8th edition of the US News & World Report Best Countries rankings for 2023, which covered perceptions of 87 nations, measures global performance on a variety of metrics and these include 10 subrankings: Adventure, Agility, Cultural Influence, Entrepreneurship, Heritage, Movers, Open for Business, Power, Quality of Life and Social Purpose.
On the overall ranking of the Best Countries for 2023, the UAE came in 19th place globally, improving from 21st place in 2022.
The UAE is the first at the level of the Arab world and Gulf countries on the list of Best Countries for 2023, according to the report, which indicated it was way ahead of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and others, according to the survey.
In the subranking of “Movers”, based on an equally weighted average of scores from four country attributes, different, distinctive, dynamic and unique, the UAE came in the first place and was followed by many countries including Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, China, Qatar, Brazil, South Korea, Indonesia, US, and others.
“A country’s future growth is dependent on a range of factors, including how prepared it is to weather challenges posed by the global economy. To be successful, nations need resiliency and momentum. These countries are the ones to watch,” the survey said.
In the subranking of Cultural Influence, the UAE ranked 9th globally and was ahead of several countries such as Sweden, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Greece, Canada, among others, according to the survey.
Under this subranking, countries that command cultural influence are often synonymous with fine food, fashion and easy living. They are trendsetters. Their music, television and movies are absorbed by other cultures, becoming part of a wider global conversation. These countries are leading the way in areas like fashion and entertainment.
The UAE came in the 15th place in the world in the sub category of “Agility”, which is based on an equally weighted average of scores from five country attributes that relate to a country’s ability to be agile: adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive and responsive.
“For a country to be agile, it must adapt and respond to whatever obstacles it faces. To do this, a country needs to be efficient in its actions, adopt and accept modern solutions, and progress to meet changing circumstances. These countries are seen as the most adaptable to change,” the survey said.
The UAE was ranked 17th in the “Entrepreneurship” subranking which is based on an equally weighted average of scores from 11 country attributes that relate to how entrepreneurial a country is: connected to the rest of the world, educated population, entrepreneurial, innovative, provides easy access to capital, skilled labour force, technological expertise, transparent business practices, well-developed infrastructure, well-developed digital infrastructure and well-developed legal framework.
The UAE was ahead of Norway, Austria, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Italy and others, according to the survey.
The UAE came in 26th place globally in “Quality of Life”, based on several country attributes that relate to quality of life including a good job market, well-developed public education system and well-developed public health system, economically stable, to mention a few. The UAE preceded Greece, Malaysia, Turkey, Croatia, and many others, according to the survey.
In the subranking of openness to business it came in the 40th place, preceding France, UK, Hungary, Italy and others, and in the adventure sub ranking it was ranked in the 48th place.
The survey indicated that in the overall ranking of Best Countries, Switzerland was in the first place, followed by Canada and Sweden.