Philippines jumps ten spots, places 75th in WEF global competitiveness rankings

At a press conference held earlier today, September 7, 2011, by the World Economic Forum’s country partner, the Makati Business Club, the results of the 2011-2012 WEF Global Competitiveness Survey were released to the press. MBC’s Chairman Ramon del Rosario was pleased to announce that the Philippines jumped 10 places to 75th out of 142 countries surveyed. The WEF mostly attributes the 10-spot jump, one of the biggest worldwide, to improvements in the the following categories: institutions, macroeconomic environment, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation.

While the report pinpoints 17 of the country’s competitive advantages that also contributed to its improvement in ranking, it also shows that the Philippines still ranks as the worst among ASEAN in the categories of institutions and labor market efficiency.

Vice Chairman and former Finance Secretary Roberto de Ocampo admitted that there are many challenges remaining for the Philippines but he prefers to see the glass as half full. And to those who have expressed their disappointment in the country’s slow growth, he had this to say “we have to get things right first before we can move fast.” He added that we cannot carry on with the “business as usual” mindset if we hope to continuously improve future rankings. MBC Chairman Ramon del Rosario echoed these sentiments and explained that while low government spending has been a drag on the economy, “one has to get things right first,” and spending time weeding out the bad infrastructure deals from the good is the “appropriate approach.” He ended by highlighting the fact that the foundations have been laid and it is now “appropriate to move forward.”

“Night and day” was how NCC Co-chair Guillermo Luz described the difference between the level of support that the NCC received from the past administration versus the amount of support it is receiving from the current administration. He attributes this increase in support as one of the reasons for the revitalization of the 10 Working Groups. The Council’s aim is for the Philippines to reach the top 30 in the WEF rankings and to be just as competitive as Thailand in about five years’ time.

Please find attached the Philippines’ Profile Report 2011, the MBC Statement on WEF and the WEF Press Release. For the full WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012, click here.

By: Tanya Hotchkiss, Sept. 7, 2011