May 22, 2011, Updated September 12, 2012

Israel is still the world’s top investor in R&D as a proportion of GDP in 2011, according to the World Competitiveness Index by Switzerland’s IMD Business School.

Israel ranked 17 out of 59 countries in competitiveness overall, the same as in 2010.

Israel was also ranked first by IMD in the functioning of central banks.

“The Israeli economy continues to demonstrate robustness and stability compared with the world’s leading economies,” said Israeli Chambers of Commerce president Uriel Lynn. The Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce represents IMD in Israel.

“The survey puts Israel among the top 20 countries, economically speaking, despite the challenges facing Israel over the coming year, such as reducing the public sector and spending, cutting bureaucracy, and the burden on the business sector, investment in infrastructure in the periphery, including in education, and boosting exports,” added Lynn.

According to the Swiss study, Hong Kong and the US tied for first place in global competitiveness this year.

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