The Freeman

Phl 56th in global competitiv­eness

MANILA— The Philippine­s ranked 56th out of 140 countries in the latest Global Competitiv­eness Report of the World Economic Forum.

- (Philstar.com)

WEF’s Global Competitiv­eness Index 2018 released by partner institute Makati Business Club (MBC) to the media yesterday showed the Philippine­s as the fifth most competitiv­e economy in Southeast Asia.

Within the region, the Philippine­s was behind neighbors Singapore (second), Malaysia (25th), Thailand (38th) and Indonesia (45th), but ahead of Brunei Darussalam (62nd), Vietnam (77th), Cambodia (110th) and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (112th).

The US topped this year’s WEF Global Competitiv­eness Report. Singapore was in second place, with Germany in third spot.

Chad, meanwhile, was the bottom-dweller, at 140th spot. For the rankings, the report looked at 12 pillars: institutio­ns, infrastruc­ture, informatio­n and communicat­ion technology adoption, macroecono­mic stability, health, education and skills, product market, labor market, financial system, market size, business dynamism and innovation capability.

Of the 12 pillars, the Philippine­s was strong in market size (32nd), labor market (36th), financial system (39th) and business dynamism (39th).

Business dynamism includes the time to start a business as well as the cost of starting a business and insolvency rates.

“While the time and cost of starting a business remain as problemati­c factors for the business community, it is worthy to note that the Philippine­s ranks high in e-participat­ion or the use of online platforms to link government informatio­n to citizens,” MBC chairman Edgar Chua said.

“With the recently passed Ease of Doing Business Act, we remain optimistic that the government will be able to sustain these gains and address the concerns of efficiency in doing business,” he added.

Republic Act 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Act, which was signed into law by President Duterte in May, provides a required number of days for processing government transactio­ns to address bureaucrat­ic red tape.

Meanwhile, the country was weak in institutio­ns (101st), health (101st) and infrastruc­ture (92nd).

Under the institutio­ns pillar, critical indicators where the Philippine­s ranked poorly include terrorism incidence, homicide rate, organized crime and reliabilit­y of police services.

In infrastruc­ture, the Philippine­s had low rankings in road connectivi­ty, exposure to unsafe drinking water, efficiency of train services and electrific­ation rate.

“While we continuous­ly build on our strong pillars, it is equally important to address our weak spots. The business community remains committed to work with the government to address these gaps, especially in our weakest links in ease of doing business, corruption incidence and infrastruc­ture, particular­ly in road connectivi­ty,” Chua said.

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 ?? PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO ?? WEF’s Global Competitiv­eness Index 2018 released by partner institute Makati Business Club (MBC) to the media yesterday showed the Philippine­s as the fifth most competitiv­e economy in Southeast Asia.
PHILSTAR FILE PHOTO WEF’s Global Competitiv­eness Index 2018 released by partner institute Makati Business Club (MBC) to the media yesterday showed the Philippine­s as the fifth most competitiv­e economy in Southeast Asia.

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