Egypt has been ranked ninth on the 2010 Economic Freedom of the World Report, produced by the Fraser Institute. The survey ranked 16 Arab countries in terms of perceived economic freedoms.
Bahrain ranked first on the index, Kuwait second, and Lebanon third, followed by Oman. Jordan and Qatar both ranked fifth, while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates tied at sixth place.
Egypt, meanwhile, ranked ninth, with 6.9 points, moving up one place from last year’s index.
Algeria came in last place behind Djibouti, Mauritania, Tunisia and Syria.
The survey only included 16 out of 22 Arab countries due to a lack of data about states such as Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia and Palestine.
According to the report, Gulf State governments have worked hard towards opening their internal and external economies to the global market.
The report measured 43 categories in five different sectors. These included "size of government"; "trade and economic law"; "protection of intellectual property rights"; "monetary policy"; "freedom of international trade"; and "credit, employment and commercial activity regulatory frameworks."
Fred McMahon, director of the Fraser Institute's Center for Trade and Globalization Studies, said that countries with high rankings had been successful in achieving varying degrees of economic freedom and led the region in terms of political openness.
The report's lead author, Salem al-Ismaili, pointed to the "link between economic freedom and prosperity," asserting that the more economic freedom a country enjoyed, the greater that country's economic growth.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
