KARACHI (APP)- Pakistan ranks 62 in the world in the 2008 IT industry competitiveness index falling two places from its 2007 ranking of 60 in the index. A statement on Monday said that neighbouring South Asian countries were ranked more favourably. It said that these are among the findings of a new study issued by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The study, now in its second year, assesses and compares the information technology (IT) industry environments of 66 countries to determine the extent to which they enable IT sector competitiveness. Although the top 20 economies remain the same from one year ago, nine countries moved up and 11 went down in the rankings. Three countries in the top five are new: Taiwan, Sweden and Denmark. The top five countries in Asia-Pacific Region are Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, Singapore and Japan. This year's index shows that a country's IT competitiveness rankings can move upward or downward very quickly, said Aly Harakeh, BSA spokesperson for Eastern Mediterranean and Pakistan. The ability of local governments and IT industries to deliver jobs and a better quality of life through information technology is strongly affected by how they handle the six drivers of competitiveness. Pakistan needs to invest in its R&D environment and IT infrastructure in order to improve its competitiveness in the IT industry. Although fair scores were achieved for the business environment as well as support for IT industry development and legal environment, there is still a lot to do to move up the global ranks. The study finds that Pakistan performed strongest in business environment (55.3) as well as support of IT industry development and legal environment (both 41.0) Areas of improvement include R&D environment where the country scored the lowest, 0.2 points. "Policymakers and business leaders need to address the full combination of factors that enable competitive IT industries," maintains Denis McCauley, Director, Global Technology Research with the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Few countries can hope to build strong IT production sectors without strong business and legal environments, deep pools of talent, support for innovation, and the widespread use of technology throughout society." According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, six factors work together to create a sound environment for the IT sector, including: an ample supply of skills; an innovation-friendly culture; world-class technology infrastructure; a robust legal regime that protects intellectual property, such as patents and copyrights; an open, competitive economy; and government leadership that strikes the right balance between promoting technology and allowing market forces to work. Those countries that perform well in these six competitiveness enablers' generally are home to high-performance IT industries. High performing IT sectors directly contribute more than 5 percent to the gross\\domestic product of most advanced nations. They also drive momentum in the wider economy by helping organisations and workers to be more efficient and productive.