PHL registers ‘most significant decline’ in competitiveness in 2017

By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS, GMA News, May 24, 2018

Philippine competitiveness registered its “most significant decline” in this year’s world ranking given the downtrend in tourism and employment among others, the International Institute of Management Development (IMD) has said.

Based on this year’s World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) rankings of the IMD, the Philippines fell nine spots to rank 50th out of 63 economies included in the list.

“The Philippines experiences the most significant decline in the region, shifting nine places to 50th,” the report read.

“The reasons for such a drop include a decline in tourism and employment, the worsening of public finances and a surge in concerns about the education system,” it added.

The WCY is ranked based on four sectors where the Philippines noted a drop across all factors—economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

The Philippine economic performance dropped to the 50th spot from last year’s 26th, infrastructure to 60th spot from 54th, business efficiency to 38th from 28th, and government efficiency to 44th from 37th.

“This year’s results reinforce a crucial trait of the competitiveness landscape. Countries undertake different paths towards competitiveness transformation,” Arturo Bris, director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said in the statement.

This year’s list was topped by the United States, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

“Countries at the top of the rankings share an above the average performance across all competitiveness factors, but their competitiveness mix varies,” Bris said.

“One economy, for example, may build its competitiveness strategy around a particular aspect such as its tangible and intangible infrastructure; another may approach competitiveness through their governmental efficiency,” he added. —NB, GMA News