PH five places up in global competitiveness rank

Its stellar economic performance and improved business efficiency pushed the Philippines five places up a global competitiveness list this year.

The Philippines moved to ranking 38th of 59 countries in the 2013 World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) from being 43rd of 59 in the previous list.

This makes the country the 11th most competitive among the Asia-Pacific countries in the WCY, edging out India and Indonesia.

The Philippines posted improvements in three out of the report's four competitiveness measures namely economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

It showed the most progress in economic performance, where it jumped 11 places to 31st from 42nd.

"This is backed by the 6.6 percent real GDP (gross domestic product) growth in 2012, the second highest in WCY," said a statement released by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center.

The AIM Policy Center in Manila is the local partner of Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development in releasing the WCY.

The Philippine's ranking in business efficiency meanwhile rose from 26th to 19th, an improvement the report attributed to the "soaring stock market."

In terms of government efficiency, the Philippines' ranking only slightly improved from 32nd to 31st, with the report citing an increase in debt-to-GDP ratio.

The Philippines, however, slid down the rankings in terms of infrastructure, placing 57th from 55th.

"The Philippines has one of the highest improvements in ranking in the region," the statement read.

Neighboring countries have also seen improved competitiveness, with Thailand taking the 27th spot from 30th and Indonesia, 39th from 42nd.

Malaysia slipped in the list, taking the 15th spot from ranking 14th previously. It remained to be among the highest-ranked Southeast Asian countries, however. 

This year's global competitiveness list was topped by the United States, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Sweden and Singapore.

source:  Yahoo