Armenia improves position in UN's Global Innovation IndexAugust 16, 2016 - 17:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia has climbed one spot in the Global Innovation Index to rank the 60th among 128 countries against the 61st spot last year, with Switzerland, Sweden and Great Britain ranking highest on the list. The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation. Armenia is the only economy in the region which outperforms relative to its GDP. Mentioned among Armenia's strengths are ease of starting a business (5th spot overall), innovation efficiency ratio which is designed to assess the effectiveness of innovation systems and policies (15th), females employed with advanced degrees (24.7%, 5th spot overall) and other indicators. On the other hand, lack of high- and medium-high-tech manufacturers, low number of graduates in science and engineering, expenditure on education are listed among the country’s weaknesses. Turkey ranks 42nd, Georgia – 64th, Azerbaijan – 85th, Iran – 78th, while Russia comes in 43rd. Also, China has broken into the world's top 25 innovative economies for the first time this year, said the annual report by the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), INSEAD Business School and Cornell University. Other emerging economies are climbing the list, like India, which soared to 66th place from 81st a year earlier. According to the report, Yemen, Guinea and Togo are the least innovative countries in the world. Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine |