Competitiveness

“Innovation is a new way of doing things that results in positive change,” writes Carmine Gallo, author of a new book called The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success (McGraw-Hill). Innovative businesses and entrepreneurs drive the kind of job creation needed to power us out of the lingering economic doldrums.…

Congress was urged yesterday to enact new legislation that will police monopolistic practices that stifle free competition and hurt consumers in the face of the wave of mergers and consolidations now sweeping the country and across the globe.

WASHINGTON — The World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked the Philippines 85th out of 139 economies polled in its the Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011. Last year the Philippines ranked 87th in the Global Competitiveness Index among 133 economies.

The Philippines’ ranking as a competitive economy climbed two notches over the last year mostly because of improved scores on macroeconomic environment, labor market efficiency and financial market development, according to the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) report.

GOVERNMENT RHETORIC routinely exhorts the citizens to exert themselves for greater competitiveness. Politicians discourse on how business corporations, labor unions, even universities and their-students, must strive to become globally competitive.

COMPETITIVENESS issues continue to hound small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines but they are also among the most upbeat in the region, a United Parcel Service (UPS) survey showed.

VISITING World Bank officials have raised concerns over the Philippines’ poor showing in global competitiveness surveys but President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III assured them his administration would work to reverse the country’s low rankings, a Cabinet official said.

SUPPORTING the access of entrepreneurs to credit may help a city become more competitive, according to a study by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.

THE GOVERNMENT must increase infrastructure spending and cut red tape instead of beefing up investment incentives to improve the country’s attractiveness, the local partner of a Swiss-based competitiveness ranking body said in a forum on Friday.

THE Aquino administration has to arrest the 14-year deterioration in the Philippines’ competitiveness by aggressively improving the country’s infrastructure, particularly its power sector, according to the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center.

THE Philippines rose to 39th place—from its previous ranking of 43rd­—in the 2010 World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) of the Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC).

The Philippines ranks 39th out of 58 economies in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Scoreboard. [IMD is the International Institute for Management Development.—Ed]

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines rose to 39th place (four notches from its previous ranking of 43rd) in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 of the Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC).

MANILA, Philippines – Nine of the country’s strongest brands received the prestigious Superbrands status during the 2nd Superbrands Certificate Cocktail Presentation for Volume VI held last March at Zuni’s Restaurant in Greenbelt V, Makati.

The Philippines improved in the yearly World Competitiveness ranking of the Swiss institution IMD to 39th of 58 countries from last year’s 43rd but remained as a doormat in the Asia Pacific region as all of its neighbors also climbed in the ranking.

MANILA, Philippines – The country must strengthen its domestic base in order to be competitive in the world market, Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) has embarked on an ambitious project to convert the Subic-Clark-Batangas corridor into an international logistics hub in the country’s bid to service rapidly expanding intra-Asian trade and investments.

British Ambassador Stephen Lillie has called for continued competitiveness-enhancing reforms through legislation since such laws have the potential to boost the economy.

Britain’s top envoy to the Philippines yesterday warned that the Philippines stands to lose more foreign investments to its Asian neighbors if the government fails to immediately institute economic reforms and strategies that will boost the country’s competitiveness in the world market.

Eliminating barriers to trade will lead to more Canadian investments in the Philippines, a top Canadian trade official said on Friday.

MANILA, Philippines – Albay Gov. Joey Salceda warned yesterday that the government’s much-vaunted massive reconstruction effort could fail as the special public-private commission created for the purpose did not turn out as originally envisioned.

Ace Style Intimate Apparel Ltd. will hire 900 more workers to beef up its workforce for three to six months amid the seasonal surge in demand from the United States for the company’s high-end lingerie.

MANILA, Philippines – The competitiveness of the Philippines when compared to other countries is expected to drop next year as more money is allocated for social services to help typhoon victims, the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said yesterday.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the Philippines was still suffering from lack of infrastructure that held back growth, even as the lender reported that the global crisis could keep millions of Asians poor. In the study “Infrastructure for a Seamless Asia,” the ADB reported that during the 1997 crisis infrastructure programs were among the…

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines ranked 12th in the Asia-Pacific and 51st out of 66 countries worldwide in terms of information technology (IT) competitiveness, according to a new study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may lose its edge against its competitors in the business process outsourcing (BPO) due to the country’s poor showing in business surveys.

Flights were cancelled, diverted or delayed for hours yesterday afternoon when the power went out at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The outage knocked out radar and communication facilities at the NAIA control tower, making takeoff and landing extremely dangerous.

The Philippines dropped 16 notches in the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) World Competitiveness Report to No. 87 out of 133 countries. Singapore ranked No. 3, Malaysia 24th, Thailand 36th, and Indonesia at 54th. The Philippines was at the bottom in a list of 23 Asian countries in the earlier World Bank competitiveness survey.

The Arroyo administration was seriously addressing concerns on corruption and human-rights abuses in the country, a Malacañang official said Wednesday, stressing that the government has made gains.

Slide caused by poor infrastructure, labor market, institutions The Philippines’ ranking as a competitive economy fell 16 notches over the last year because of poor scores in infrastructures, institutions and labor market, according to the latest World Economic Forum (WEF) report.