Jordan 56th on Global Entrepreneurship Index
AMMAN — Jordan was ranked 56th among 137 world countries and 8th among Arab countries on the Global Entrepreneurship Index 2017.
The global index, issued by the Washington-based Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI), ranks countries’ performance in entrepreneurship in both the domestic and international contexts.
Gulf states topped the Arab countries in the ranking, with the UAE in the lead and 19th internationally. Qatar came in 21st, followed by Saudi Arabia (30th), Bahrain (34th), Oman (37th) and Kuwait (39th).
The US topped the index, followed by Switzerland and Canada.
GEDI said enterprise is a crucial engine of economic growth. “Without enterprise and entrepreneurs, there would be little innovation, little productivity growth and few new jobs.”
It added that entrepreneurial success does not take place in a vacuum, but entrepreneurs exist in the context of their particular geography — be that their “local, national, or even supranational economy and society”.
This mix of attitudes, resources, and infrastructure is known as the entrepreneurship “ecosystem”, the institute said.
The GEDI methodology collects data on the entrepreneurial attitudes, abilities and aspirations of the local population, and then weighs these against the prevailing social and economic infrastructure, which includes aspects such as broadband connectivity and the transport links to external markets.