ISLAMABAD: Pakistan can learn from Gulf countries and improve the performance of state institutions, experts said on Friday while discussing the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 4.0 by the World Economic Forum that ranked Pakistan on 110th number out of 141 countries.

The GCI provides a detailed map of factors and attributes that drive productivity, growth and human development in today’s world.

A majority of Gulf countries have improved their ranking on the index this year. The United Arab Emirates, for instance, has moved ahead of other countries in the region with 25th spot on the index. The country has improved its position in the last one year since it was two notches below in 2018.

Saudi Arabia is at 36th position after advancing three spots on the table since 2018, whereas Bahrain jumped five positions to reach the 45th place this year. Kuwait took the biggest stride from 54th position in 2018 to 46th in the new ranking, while Oman is the only country in the region that slipped six notches below and found itself at 53rd number in 2019.

“The gulf countries have worked on their institutions, and institutions are delivering what the citizens require. They are focusing on the future orientations of their governments,” said Amir Jahangir, chief executive officer of Mishal Pakistan which is the country’s partner Institution of the Future of Economic Progress System Initiative that releases the World Economic Forum’s GCI index in Pakistan.

Jahangir told Arab News that Pakistan could learn from the Gulf countries how to project its policies and position government initiatives.

He said Saudi Arabia had worked hard on increasing digital footprint and Internet provision to its citizens.

Saudi Arabia improved by 16 places and ranked 38th in information and communications technology adoption (ICT) pillar for the Global Competitiveness Index 2019, while Pakistan lost four positions to reach 131.

“Saudi Arabia has a vision of 30 by 30,” Jahangir said. “They are striving to be within the top 30 before 2030. Through better ICT adoption, they collect more data to help policymakers improve services. Pakistan’s digital population is only 37 million out of 210 million. It can learn from the Saudi model to improve the ICT use for better policymaking.”

The United Arab Emirates scored a perfect 100 in macroeconomic stability pillar, whereas Pakistan lost 13 ranks that negatively impacted its overall ranking.

“One of the reasons Pakistan has slipped down 13 places in microeconomic stability is that it wasted a lot of time while negotiating with the IMF rather than taking action on time,” said Dr. Waqar Masood, an eminent economist and former federal secretary for the finance division.

Masood told Arab News that the UAE scored 100 percent due to its “ease of doing business policies” and facilitation by the government to help people start new businesses. “Pakistan can learn from the UAE how to ease out regulatory issues since it is very easy to start or shut a business in the gulf state,” he said, adding that “investors run away from Pakistan due to bureaucratic hurdles.”

Saudi Arabia achieved 16th ranking in judicial independence, while Pakistan stood at 63rd position.

“Saudis have done many innovations in their justice system during the last few years, such as fixing the tenure of its judges, improving infrastructure, and creating other facilities,” Ashtar Ausaf, Pakistan’s former attorney general, told Arab News.

“They [Saudis] have opened up their judicial system, and that is something which independent observers can notice. I went there myself and felt that they were working very efficiently.”

Ausaf said Pakistan should also follow the Kingdom by improving facilities and infrastructure, especially for its lower courts.

“In Pakistan, court cases go on for years,” he said. “We should learn from Saudis to provide speedy justice to people. Our chief justice has taken some good steps, like setting up model courts and e-courts, but the common Pakistani is still not getting much benefit from them. This index focuses on ordinary citizens and see if they have been facilitated.”