WEF: China, Nordic nations lead post-Covid economic preparedness
By Antonio Broto
Geneva, Dec 16 (efe-epa).- Countries with advanced digitalized economies and strong social security schemes, such as China and Nordic nations, will be best poised to overcome the financial impact of the pandemic, according to the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness report Wednesday.
Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and China are — in that order — the five countries best prepared to recover from the economic crisis and adapt to a post-pandemic world, according to the report, which studied 37 leading world economies.
The World Economic Forum, traditionally a high-level encounter in Davos, Switzerland, decided to abridge its report of the world economies this year due to the pandemic.
Other major economies in the WEF index include Germany (ninth), France (10th), the United States (12th), Japan (14th), the United Kingdom (15th), while Spain was 20th on the index, above Portugal (21st), Italy (25th) and Russia (27th).
Of the four Latin American economies included in the index, Chile was best poised in 24th, then Brazil (26th), Argentina (30th), Mexico (36th), ahead only of Turkey, which was last.
The index, based on surveys with the business sector in the countries studied, looks at 11 areas that the WEF said have been key to weathering the pandemic and will continue to be as nations try to “build back better.”
Saadia Zahidi, WEF managing director, said: “During this time of profound uncertainty, the health crisis and economic downturn have forced a fundamental rethink of growth and its relationship to outcomes for people and planet.
“Policy-makers have a remarkable opportunity to seize this moment and shape new economic systems that are highly productive while growing shared prosperity and environmental sustainability.”
Among the variables are aspects such as citizens’ confidence in their governments, the adaptation of economies to the energy transition and information technology, the development of health care networks, fiscal flexibility and the opening of their markets
