Education policies pushed to produce globally competitive workforce

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines should pursue education policies that would help develop a globally competitive workforce and intensify public-private partnerships to fast-track political and economic reforms in the country, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) said yesterday.

AIM president Francis Estrada made the recommendations after the Philippines was ranked 40th in the 2008 Competitiveness Yearbook by the Swiss-based organization Institute of Management Development (IMD).

The country’s latest ranking was an improvement from last year’s 45th among competitors in the world economy.

Estrada said that in order to become globally competitive, the country should also embark on programs that would help mitigate the impact of food, energy and climate security issues as well as to accelerate the completion of infrastructure projects.

“The Philippines is one of the gainers in Southeast Asia in the 2008 world competitiveness report,” Estrada said during a forum at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City yesterday.

This year the Philippines had an index score of 50.478 points compared to 47.163 last year in the competitiveness yearbook.

The United States ranked first with 100 points followed by Singapore, 99.330; Hong Kong, 94.964; Switzerland, 89.656; Luxembourg, 84.405; Denmark, 83.852; Australia, 83.500; Canada, 82.852; Sweden, 82.464; and Netherlands, 80.476.

Other Asian countries in the survey included Malaysia, 19th; Japan, 22nd; Thailand, 27th; India, 29th; Korea, 31st; and Indonesia, 51st.

Under economic performance, the Philippines ranked 49th in domestic economy, 51st in international trade, 52nd in international investment, 49th in employment, and first in prices.

Under the state of efficiency, the Philippines ranked 48th in public finance, 14th in fiscal policy, 50th in institutional framework, 44th in business legislation and 18th in societal framework.

Under the business efficiency category, the country placed 43rd in productivity and efficiency, 15th in labor market, 33rd in finance, 37th in management practices and 24th in attitudes and values.

However, the country ranked 54th in basic infrastructure, 31st in technological infrastructure, 53rd scientific infrastructure, 44th in health and environment and 52nd in education.