Dubai, Sep 8 (IANS) The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 released by the World Economic Forum places the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar at the top position in the Middle East region, WAM news agency reported Tuesday.

A number of countries in the Middle East are in the upper half of the rankings, led by Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Tunisia, with particular improvements noted in the Gulf states, which continue their upward trend of recent years.

The United Arab Emirates has moved up by eight places and Qatar by four places since the previous year's report.

"The strong interdependence among the world's economies makes this a truly global economic crisis in every sense. In a difficult global economic environment, it is more important than ever for countries to put into place strong fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development," said Klaus Schwab, executive chairman of the World Economic Forum.