Corruption pulls down RP in global competitiveness

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines dropped from 71st place to 87th in the latest Global Competitiveness Index prepared by the World Economic Forum.

Corruption, an inefficient bureaucracy, inadequate infrastructure and policy instability were the top problem areas cited in the annual study, which ranked 133 economies.

Switzerland topped the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, released yesterday by the WEF ahead of its Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2009 in Dalian, China. (See story on B-9)

The United States, which has suffered through a financial crisis and macroeconomic instability, fell to second place from its previous top rank. It was followed by Singapore, Sweden and Denmark.

European countries remained the most competitive, with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands among the top 10. Japan ranked eighth and Canada ninth.

China led the large developing economies, ranking in the top 30 and moving up a notch. Brazil and India also improved in their rankings, which were based on publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey taken among 13,000 business leaders in the 133 economies.

The Global Competitiveness Index is based on 12 pillars of competitiveness: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labor market efficiency, financial market sophistication, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.

The report points out problem areas for reform in each of the 133 economies.

In the case of the Philippines, the biggest problem cited was corruption. This was followed by an inefficient bureaucracy, inadequate infrastructure, policy instability, access to financing and tax regulation.

Also cited as problem areas were theft and other crimes, tax rates, coup threats, restrictive labor regulations and the poor public health system.

The report also cited inadequate education and a poor work ethic in the Philippine labor force.

The Philippines ranked below Trinidad and Tobago but ahead of Libya.

Among Asian countries, the Philippines was ahead only of Pakistan, which placed 101st, Bangladesh (106), Cambodia (110), Nepal (125) and Timor-Leste (126).

Hongkong ranked 11th, Taiwan 12th, South Korea 19th, Malaysia 24th, China 29th, Brunei 32nd and Thailand 36th. The Philippines was behind Vietnam, which ranked 75th. –Evelyn Macairan (The Philippine Star)