Phl competitiveness ranking remained sluggish in 2012

CEBU, Philippines -  The National Competitiveness Council (NCC) remained bullish that the Philippines shall improve its ranking and performance in various global competitiveness reports through the unified, collaborative and strengthened efforts of both the government and the private sector.

In a performance summary report, NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz revealed that they have laid out concrete action plans as part of the council’s goals to improve the country’s ranking.

In the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Ease of Doing Business report, Philippines remained at no. 138 out of 185 countries this year compared to its 136th place out of 183 in 2011.

Luz said that the country has not made any significant improvements in the last three years and is determined to change such.

As part of the program, NCC has created a task force to analyze all 10 government agencies measured in the Ease of Doing Business report which also has designated account officers for specific and important indicators.

The council has conducted a briefing with government agencies in charge who have also appointed officers to work with NCC in return for each process improvement.

To better understand how to design the improvements, they are also working more closely with IFC offices in Manila and Washington DC through an initial series of videoconferences with IFC analysts.

To date, NCC has completed two long videoconference calls with IFC Washington and met four of the ten teams handling the preparation of the report of the Philippines.

To further develop their action plans per process improvement, they are also working with the World Bank staff in Manila.

Luz added that the working groups from the private sector and other members of the business community have joined forces with NCC to enhance and streamline government processes that entrepreneurs have to undergo.

“We are optimistic that this level of cooperation and coordination among government agencies and the private sector will yield positive results and hopefully an improvement in our rankings in this report in the years ahead,” Luz said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, Philippines rose 10 ranks to No. 65 out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.

It was also in 2011 that the country accelerated 10 notches in ranking.

The 20-counry jump is considered to be one of the highest performances in the world in the last two years.

The country, however, dropped by two ranks to No. 43 out of 59 countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Report.

In the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, Philippines increased by 8 places to No. 107 out of 184 countries.

The country also went up by 24 to No. 105 out of 176 in the Transparency International Corruptions Perception Index. Within ASEAN, Philippines rose from No. 7 to No. 5 out of 10 countries.

Adjusted for new countries added to the sample, the country went four times higher to No. 86 out of 142 in the Global Information Technology Report while it ascended by 12 to No. 95 out of 141 countries in the Global Innovation Index.

On the other hand, Philippines decelerated by 12 ranks to No. 95 out of 118 in Future Brand’s Country Brand Index.

NCC is a public-private sector body committed to building up the long-term competitiveness of the Philippines through policy reforms, project implementation, institution-building, performance monitoring and goal-setting. (FREEMAN)