The World Economic Forum has published the latest version of the annual Global Competitiveness Report, featuring the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0 rankings.
Cyprus has ranked 44th out of 141 economies, whilst Israel ranked 20th.
The GCI allows for assessing progress against an array of factors determining productivity. These are organized into 12 pillars: Institutions; Infrastructure; ICT adoption; Macroeconomic stability; Health; Skills; Product market; Labour market; Financial system; Market size; Business dynamism; and Innovation capability.
Israel is a top performer in several areas within the ‘Innovation Capability’ and ‘Business Dynamism’ pillars. In specific, Israel is leading the rankings in ‘Entrepreneurial Culture’ / ‘Growth of Innovative Companies’ / ‘Companies Embracing Disruptive Ideas’. This comes as no surprise for the Start-Up Nation.
Building bridges and strengthening cooperation between Cyprus and Israel -not only at institutional but also at B2B & P2P levels- supports competitiveness growth in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship in Cyprus.
Indicative examples of concrete steps forward:
- Cooperation established between the Israel Innovation Authority and the Office of the Chief Scientist and National Board for Research& Innovation of Cyprus, leading to the development of a joint action plan for research and innovation in areas of common interest and priority such as Energy, Maritime and Agriculture (initiated in 2019)
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship Courses for Cypriot and Greek innovators and startupers, run by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and MASHAV (established in 2018 – annual basis)
- Official visits, stakeholder consultations and exchange of knowledge and best practices with prominent leaders of the Israeli ecosystem, such as Eugene Kandel, CEO of Start-Up Nation Central (Q4 2017) and Aharon Aharon, CEO of Israel Innovation Authority (Q1 2019)
- Supporting Cypriot delegations attending academic symposia and applied research, business and innovation conferences (e.g. DLD Innovation Festival, Cybertech Conference, Ilan Ramon International Space Conference etc) (on-going basis)
- Facilitating bilateral and trilateral workshops with the participation of experts from academia/government/private sector in areas of common interest (including and not limited to: Aquaculture, Agriculture, Water and other)
- Establishment of the Pafos Innovation Institute by the Pafos Municipality and IDC Herzliya (Agreement signed in Q3 2019)
- Promoting the Research & Innovation scene of Cyprus in Israel (e.g. Dedicated panel on R&I at the Trilateral Business Forum Israel-Cyprus-Greece, held in Tel Aviv on Dec 2018)
Equally zealous, we are looking forward to continue working hand-in-hand with Cypriot and Israeli partners, to further advance economic relations between our countries and to deliver positive societal impact.
/S.P
