Brand South Africa, the entity set up to promote national identity and reputation building for country, has welcomed the improvement in the country’s competitiveness ranking in the latest report from the Institute for Management Development (IMD).

South Africa now stands at number 52, up from number 53 in 2015. The improvement in the rankings comes as a result of advancements in a number of areas, including energy infrastructure, future energy supply, stock market capitalisation, ICT service exports, labour relations, ease of doing business, exchange rate stability, health infrastructure and funding for technological development.

“South Africa’s performance in this index shows that national efforts to strengthen the economy and improve our global competitiveness are yielding positive results for the country,” said Brand South Africa chief executive officer Kingsley Makhubela here Wednesday.

“The national brand and our global competitiveness is built by all citizens and improvements in our global competitiveness are a testament to the work that we are all doing to make South Africa a winning nation. We thank you for playing your part and encourage you to continue working to build the country’s reputation.”

The IMD looks at the global competitiveness of 61 countries. Brand South Africa is the official marketing agency of South Africa, with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation, in order to improve its global competitiveness.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK