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THE
Philippines may have taken over Russia, Italy, Colombia
and Greece in the World Competitiveness Index, but
benefits of growth are still not trickling down to the
poor.
The
Philippines rose from 45 to 40 in the annual index of
Lausanne, Switzerland-based International Institute for
Management and Development that measured 55 countries
using 331 criteria.
“It’s a
rather good jump,” political economy professor Federico
Macaranas said during the presentation of results at the
Asian Institute of Management late Tuesday afternoon.
Indeed,
the Philippines exhibited a turnaround in the four major
indices measuring performance in the preceding year: 42
out of 55 countries measured according to economic
performance; 41 in terms of government efficiency; 31 in
business efficiency; and 48 in infrastructure.
The
country performed best in business efficiency, where it
was ranked 39 in last year’s index. Likewise, the
Philippines also rose four notches in terms of
infrastructure.
Macaranas credited the country’s lift in the
economic-performance index to the gross domestic
product, the growth rate of which was the country’s
highest in 31 years.
“But if
we look at
Vietnam’s
numbers, we would realize the sorry state we’re in,” the
AIM
Policy Center
executive director noted. Based on the WCI, the
Philippines
remained near the bottom of 13 countries in the region
in terms of overall score.
The
Philippines was ahead of all 55 countries in terms of
economic performance because it offers the cheapest
prices in the world, the WCI data shows. Relative to the
New York City price base, the Philippines consistently
ranked the top.
Cost of
living index, a subfactor of business efficiency, was
also low, the second-lowest among 55 countries.
Macaranas didn’t cite the top country with the world’s
lowest cost of living.
However,
when the GDP is measured per capita, “it reflects the
sad maldistribution of income,” Macaranas said.
In terms
of GDP per capita, the Philippines is ranked 54th, one
rung from the bottom.
Macaranas said the lack of diversification of the
economy and the severe youth unemployment remains the
major challenges for spreading the income more
equitably.
He added
there is also a need to seriously address health and
nutrition, especially of Filipino children, to prepare
the country’s work force for the next 15 to 20 years.
Macaranas forwarded five recommendations culled by the
National Competitiveness Council from the WCI results.
These
include improving education policies to develop a
globally competitive work force; mainstream innovation
and advancing the country’s creative human capital;
accelerate completion of infrastructure projects;
mitigate the impact of food, energy and climate security
issues; and intensify public-private sector partnership
to fast track political and economic reforms.
The
20-year-old index has seen the United States as still
reigning as the most competitive country, followed by
Singapore.
However,
IIMD professor Stephane Garelli said in a video
presentation that they haven’t identified how a stalling
economy would affect the US in next year’s indexing as
what happened to
Japan
in the 1990s. |
