Philippines drops a notch in innovation index

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has slipped one notch to 51st place out of 132 economies in this year’s Global Innovation Index (GII).

In last year’s report, the Philippines placed 50th out of 131 economies.

Despite the year-on-year drop in ranking, the Philippines, together with China, Turkey, Vietnam and India, was cited as among the only five countries that have made significant progress over time in the GII report published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to rank economies based on their innovation capacity and output.

“It is singled out as an economy which is changing the global innovation landscape for good,” WIPO assistant director general Marco Aleman said.

The report showed the Philippines ranked fourth among 34 lower middle-income group economies, and 11th out of 17 economies in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania.

Relative to the country’s gross domestic product, the Philippines’ performance in the GII is considered above expectations, with more innovation outputs being produced in relation to its level of innovation investments.

Out of the seven pillars tracked by the GII, the Philippines reached its highest rank in knowledge and technology outputs as it rose to 24th place this year from 26th last year.

In terms of business sophistication, the Philippines saw its ranking go down to 33rd place from 29th in the previous year.

As for creative outputs, the Philippines dropped to 65th place from 57th in 2020.

Meanwhile, it improved in terms of human capital and research, ranking 80th from 86th last year.

The Philippines maintained its ranking in market sophistication at 86th place.

For infrastructure, the country fell to the 86th spot from 63rd place last year.

For institutions, it improved to 90th place from 91st the previous year.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the GII has been a source of insight for the government in recognizing advancements in innovation policies and programs, as well as in identifying crucial areas that require further action.

Based on the latest GII, Lopez said salient indicators that merit stronger future policy action include ease of getting credit, inflow of venture capital, creation of new businesses, ease of doing business, and attracting global corporate research and development investments.

“We have seen that with the right collaborators, our country’s entrepreneurial and innovative people can boost and optimize their discovery potential and serve as a primary engine of economic development, especially amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As envisioned by President Duterte, this is the best way by which we can spur new enterprises, create more and better jobs, and build our industrial competitiveness towards a more comfortable life for all Filipinos,” he said. – Romina Cabrera