Competition

Greece has dropped 27 places in the latest Economic Freedom of the World report compiled by the Fraser Institute think tank in Canada, falling to 116th among 159 countries, just days after learning it had also sunk on the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index.

Greece ranks last among the 137 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in terms of the attractiveness of its tax system to investors, leading to the country dropping one more spot in the organization's global competitiveness chart for this year.

Serbia is up 12 places in the latest the World Economic Forum's 2017 Global Competitiveness Index (GCI).

Serbia ranks 78th out of 138 countries, it was announced on Wednesday.

This is country's best result since 2010, representatives of the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM) and the Foundation for the Advancement of Economics (FREN) have told a news conference.

Greece ranks 87th among the 137 countries included in the World Economic Forum's 2017-2018 Global Competitiveness Report made available Wednesday.

The country ranked 86th last year and 81st the year before.

Germany wants to make progress in its presidency of the Group of 20 leading economies on improving free and fair trade and will try to get broad agreement on open markets at next month's leaders' summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on June 20.

She cautioned, however, that this might not be easy with U.S. President Donald Trump who has made waves with his protectionist rhetoric.

Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev stated in parliament that Bulgaria was doing an excellent job during the current EU programming period, reported BNR.

The Bulgarian PM pointed out that at this time, the amounts negotiated under different EU operational programmes are double the sum during the previous programming period, and payments are up by one third.

Egypt's Trade Ministry has issued tough new regulations on importers by sharply raising the minimum capital they need to operate, the government's latest effort to curb foreign-made goods and spur local manufacturing.

When it comes to economic competitiveness, Greece's continuous financial strife has sent it even further down world rankings.

According to this year's World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), which ranks and assesses the competitiveness of 63 countries, Greece only managed to reach 57th place on the chart.

Forty-three of Europe's most significant chief executive officers spent just over 24 hours in Athens last week: In total secrecy, they met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, then held a meeting among themselves and left as quietly as they had come.

A right policy mix is essential for countries to cope with or avoid economic shocks, the Turkish Central Bank Governor said April 3.