IMD is a leading business school, based in Switzerland. Every year, it publishes a world competitiveness survey. Based on over 300 factors, it historically places the USA at the top of the tree.

The survey’s author, Professor Stefan Garelli, notes that the study accounts for improving performance as well as damage control in light of events such as the credit crisis. So, maybe, it is no surprise to see Singapore and Hong Kong frogleap the American giant in the table.

And if competitiveness is all about resilience, then we can begin to understand Israel’s jump forward to seventeenth place. Israel was one of the first country’s to come through the recession.

Drilling down in the statistics, Israel comes top of several categories; performance under stressful conditions, the role of the central bank, relative expenditure on r&d, and training personnel. The latter two elements feed into the equation as to why Israel has been so successful at innovation.

Israel is now 17th out of the 58 leading countries analysed. That means that there are still several areas in which it can improve. Transparency must be one of those. The rules of the OECD, which Israel has just joined, should help to ensure a change in that aspect.

Nevertheless, the survey adds to the increasing evidence as to why Israel is an excellent opportunity for new investment.