 Eight years after the global financial crisis, the world is slowly recovering. Many fragilities remain that could put the recovery at risk. Emerging markets are not doing enough in order to sustain growth, and then at the same time in developed countries, the recovery could be derailed by factors such as geopolitical conflict, rising oil prices and the rising interest rates in the United States. This year's report shows that countries that are more competitive are also more resilient, and by competitiveness we actually mean productivity. The Global Competitiveness Report identifies 12 factors that drive competitiveness. Institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education training, efficiency of goods, labour and financial markets, technological readiness, market size and business sophistication and innovation. Switzerland tops the ranking this year and has proven remarkably resilient due to an excellent capacity to innovate. It is followed by Singapore and the United States. Germany occupies the fourth position, moving up by one place, and the Netherlands comes in fifth, posting the biggest improvement in the top ten. Among the large emerging economies, China stabilizes at 28, but continues to lead. South Africa improves seven places to 49, and India, after five years of decline, progresses by 16 places to 55, going in the opposite direction. Brazil drops significantly to 75th, reflecting the many challenges the country is currently facing. One area of particular importance is talent and skills. By educating, training and rewarding people, a country can ensure that it attracts talent and that workers have the right skills to access jobs. Education can also help ensure that growth is more inclusive, and this is critical in the context of high unemployment, especially among the youth. The world's most competitive economies all score very well on measures related to education and training. A second area where further improvements are needed is financial market development. A lot of progress has been achieved in the last years, especially in the United States, but we still see that lending remains limited, especially to smaller companies. With the expected rise in interest rates in the United States, it will be even more difficult for companies in emerging markets to access the capital they need in order to ensure growth. The improvements to competitiveness require a long-term approach and also collaboration among the public and the private sectors in civil society. This is what will make the results sustainable and also benefit the society as a whole.