Drop in competitiveness spurs calls for reforms

By Richmond Mercurio (The Philippine Star), September 29, 2016

MANILA, Philippines – The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) is calling for further reforms in the country’s bureaucracy, infrastructure, technology and innovation as the Philippines took a step backwards in its plan of reaching the top third in global competitiveness ranking.

NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz yesterday expressed his disappointment with the outcome of the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report which saw the Philippines’ ranking drop 10 notches to 57th spot.

He said the country’s decline in the rankings showed how economies globally are becoming more competitive.

“It is, of course, disappointing to experience this fall in spite of all efforts to improve competitiveness. Our score dropped minimally from 4.39 to 4.36 out of seven but it was enough to bring us down by countries. The world is so competitive that even small changes make a big difference in ranking,” Luz said.

The country’s 10-point decline in the standings is its first drop in nearly a decade.

“The new ranking brings us further away from our intermediate goal of being in the top third of global rankings. We will need to focus even more on our challenges – bureaucracy, infrastructure,technology and innovation – to make the country more competitive,” Luz said.

According to the NCC, the WEF report indicated that the country is in the “flat zone” of the ranking, where many countries are very close to each other in terms of scores.

“A small variation in the score can result in a big rank shift,” the NCC said.

Despite the drop in the survey, the NCC was glad to note that the WEF highlighted the Philippines as one of the three most improved economies in Asia and Pacific since 2007, along with China and Cambodia.