Thailand's ranking up 6 places to 31st: Global competitiveness

[webfact]

COMPETITIVENESS
Thailand's ranking up 6 places to 31st
The Nation


A Thai broom vendor rides a tricycle on the street of Bangkok. Thailand's rankings in all 12 pillars are uneven. /AFP

BANGKOK: -- Despite its prolonged political crisis, Thailand advances six places to 31st position among 144 economies included in the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015.

Thailand gradually moved up from 39th in 2011-2012, to 38th in 2012-2013, and 37th in 2013-2014 rankings.

The Report's Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) showed that Switzerland maintains the No.1 ranking for six years in a row. It is followed by Singapore, the United States, Finland, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Sweden.

Japan, China and the five largest Asean economies have all improved their economic competitiveness over the past twelve months, according to the report.

Three Asian economies rank among the ten most competitive nations in the world. These are Singapore (2nd), Japan, which climbs three places to 6th, and Hong Kong (7th).

China, moving up one place to 28th, reinforces its position as the most competitive BRICS economy. India's decline of 11 places to 71st, set against the gains of the Asean 5 countries, suggests that the competitiveness divide South and Southeast Asia is becoming more pronounced.

The five largest Southeast Asian economies (Asean-5) all feature in the top half of the rankings, and all of them have made strides in this edition: Malaysia gains four places, Thailand is up six, Indonesia four, the Philippines seven, and Vietnam advances two places. Since 2009, they have improved their group performance in every edition. In South Asia, among the region's six countries covered by the GCI, only India features in the top half of the rankings. Since 2009, the average GCI score of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries has stagnated.

Xavier Sala-i-Martin, Professor of Economics at Columbia University in the US, added: "Recently we have seen an end to the decoupling between emerging economies and developed countries that characterised the years following the global downturn. Now we see a new kind of decoupling, between high and low growth economies within both emerging and developed worlds. Here, the distinguishing feature for economies that are able to grow rapidly is their ability to attain competitiveness through structural reform."



Singapore ranks 2nd overall for the fourth consecutive year, owing to an outstanding and stable performance across all the dimensions of the GCI. Again this year, Singapore is the only economy to feature in the top 3 in seven out of the 12 pillars; it also appears in the top 10 of two other pillars. Singapore tops the goods market efficiency pillar and places 2nd in the labor market efficiency and financial market development pillars. Furthermore, the city-state boasts one of the world's best institutional frameworks (3rd), even though it loses the top spot to New Zealand in that category of the Index. Singapore possesses world-class infrastructure (2nd), with excellent roads, ports, and air transport facilities. Singapore's competitiveness is further enhanced by its strong focus on education, which has translated into a steady improvement of its ranking in the higher education and training pillar, where it comes in 2nd, behind Finland. Singapore's private sector is also fairly sophisticated (19th) and becoming more innovative (9th), although room for improvement exists in both areas, especially as these are the keys to Singapore's future prosperity.

"The strained global geopolitical situation, the rise of income inequality, and the potential tightening of the financial conditions could put the still tentative recovery at risk and call for structural reforms to ensure more sustainable and inclusive growth," said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

In its annual assessment of the factors driving countries' productivity and prosperity, the report identifies uneven implementation of structural reforms across different regions and levels of development as the biggest challenge to sustaining global growth. It also highlights talent and innovation as two areas where leaders in the public and private sectors need to collaborate more effectively in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic development.

"The leading economies in the index all possess a track record in developing, accessing and utilising available talent, as well as in making investments that boost innovation. These smart and targeted investments have been possible thanks to a coordinated approach based on strong collaboration between the public and private sectors," the report said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thailands-ranking-up-6-places-to-31st-30242416.html


-- The Nation 2014-09-03

[sanuk711]

I am just amazed how this could have happened--- I am continually being told by our erudite posters, how they have discussed this in the bar & the overwhelming conclusion is that they (Thai's) are stupid / lazy / can not run a business / put prices up when they shouldn't ....etc....etc

& now they print a chart saying that they (Thais) more competitive then over 101 other countries like Italy / South Africa etc.

I look forward to you rectifying this mistake.........................

.

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_Rankings_2013-14.pdf

Edited September 3, 2014 by sanuk711

[kalbo123]

surely they must have made a mistake, it should be #1 in the world..

[NongKhaiKid]

I have no idea how many surveys' findings are arrived at and in connection with this one did the panel take into consideration the LoS's love of restrictive and protectionist policies and defamation laws into consideration ?

[Lupatria]

What a great achievement when Thailand is constantly in front ahead of Kazakhstan, Bhutan, Haiti and Kiribati in these stupid reputation enhancer surveys.

[Christie Paul]

I think a ranking of more than 10 is meaningless - unless you are way down the list and thus to be avoided.

[empireboy]

And the 'Cost of Living' in the top ten countries? "Oh yes... well that does go up proportionately so you might not want to live in Thailand anymore after it ranks in the top 10!" Sorry about that!!

[chainarong]

Thailand is always in some competition, the only one they aren't in is the Democracy stakes and that's the one they need to get in at number 1 , one wounders where all these figures come from, TAT seem to pull them from Their A!!se quiet regularly , in the end unless you are in number 1 position, nobody gives a toss.

[pisico]

I have no idea how many surveys' findings are arrived at and in connection with this one did the panel take into consideration the LoS's love of restrictive and protectionist policies and defamation laws into consideration ?

It seems their agenda takes into consideration other parameters and not the ones you wisely pointed out.

I have been trying to find a Thai/Bangkok based shipping company to handle a modest cargo (non commercial items) to send to an ASEAN member country, Philippines, of about 3 cubic meters. The few companies who acknowledged my request for information on charges and schedules sent an endless TO DO and list of charges that were only labeled with a couple of Bold Letters and no explanation at all pertaining the nature of the charges. One of the companies point blank replied they are not interested in "minutia" and will only handle big orders by the container-full. These are the companies that label themselves as "cargo consolidators".

In the end, after I added all of the extra unexplained charges, they were three fold the price of the cargo itself. One of the Thai companies said that since it was only 3 cubic meters they had a minimum charge of half a container.

Very smart for I would have no way of verifying my cargo was not mixed with another cargo in the half container I would be paying for.

A Filipino company, based in Manila, would do it for half that price and without many of the spurious charges.

If this is Thai competitiveness... well, draw your own conclusions.

[NongKhaiKid]

I have no idea how many surveys' findings are arrived at and in connection with this one did the panel take into consideration the LoS's love of restrictive and protectionist policies and defamation laws into consideration ?

It seems their agenda takes into consideration other parameters and not the ones you wisely pointed out.

I have been trying to find a Thai/Bangkok based shipping company to handle a modest cargo (non commercial items) to send to an ASEAN member country, Philippines, of about 3 cubic meters. The few companies who acknowledged my request for information on charges and schedules sent an endless TO DO and list of charges that were only labeled with a couple of Bold Letters and no explanation at all pertaining the nature of the charges. One of the companies point blank replied they are not interested in "minutia" and will only handle big orders by the container-full. These are the companies that label themselves as "cargo consolidators".

In the end, after I added all of the extra unexplained charges, they were three fold the price of the cargo itself. One of the Thai companies said that since it was only 3 cubic meters they had a minimum charge of half a container.

Very smart for I would have no way of verifying my cargo was not mixed with another cargo in the half container I would be paying for.

A Filipino company, based in Manila, would do it for half that price and without many of the spurious charges.

If this is Thai competitiveness... well, draw your own conclusions.

So easy to understand your frustration.

Adding all pieces of a massive jigsaw together it comes to the question of LoS being ready for the AEC and just about all fronts i don't think so.

[lifeincnx]

Rather than reading the Nation's somewhat cherry-picked interpretation of the findings I recommend TV readers read the report for themselves. Here's a link to the entire report: http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2013-2014

Here is a link to country-specific PDF; just scroll down to Thailand.
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_CountryHighlights_2013-2014.pdf

And for those just two lazy to click, here is a synopsis on Thailand taken directly from the report:

Posting a one-notch gain for the second year in a row, Thailand ranks 37th as a result of a very small improvement in its performance, but the competitiveness challenges remain considerable. Political and policy instability, excessive red tape, omnipresent corruption and clientelism, security concerns, low reliability and high uncertainty around property rights protection seriously undermine the quality of Thai public institutions (85th). Poor public health (74th) and education, two other critical building blocks of competitiveness, require urgent attention. For instance, Thailand displays one of the highest HIV prevalence rates outside Africa, while enrollment in and the quality of higher education remain abnormally low. Turning to more sophisticated areas, which are just as important given Thailand’s stage of development, technological readiness remains low (78th) when considering technologies beyond mobile telephony.
Only a quarter of the population accesses the Internet on a regular basis, and only a small fraction does so at broadband speeds, but the growth is rapid. On a more positive note, Thailand ranks high on the macroeconomic environment pillar (31st, its best showing among the 12 pillars) owing to a very favorable fiscal situation, its high savings rate, an inflation rate under control at around 3 percent, and—in international comparison—a relatively good debt-to-GDP ratio of about 44 percent in 2012. In addition, the county continues to improve in the financial development (32nd) and the market efficiency pillars (34th), having progressed 17 and 10 places, respectively, in the past four years. Room for improvement remains, however, especially when it comes to promoting domestic competition (60th).

Edited September 3, 2014 by lifeincnx

[bernd1616]

no wonder for me looking on the exploiding salary from the ordinary thai worker from about 9000 baht per month with a 60 hour working time a week and prices and net profits far over the clouds from all kind of companies in thailand only slaves work cheaper :-D

[spidermike007]

I am just amazed how this could have happened--- I am continually being told by our erudite posters, how they have discussed this in the bar & the overwhelming conclusion is that they (Thai's) are stupid / lazy / can not run a business / put prices up when they shouldn't ....etc....etc

& now they print a chart saying that they (Thais) more competitive then over 101 other countries like Italy / South Africa etc.

I look forward to you rectifying this mistake.........................

.

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_Rankings_2013-14.pdf

Nearly any country is more competitive than Italy. When is the last time the Italians invented something? Created something new? Of course their motor vehicles, and their design, and their fashion is exceptional. But, I am talking about something innovative. When? What? Perhaps the issue lies with the fact that the country has more live at home 40 year old men than any other country in the world. Not enough pressure to perform. This thread is meant for amusement, so please do not get too bent out of shape!

[bernd1616]

I am just amazed how this could have happened--- I am continually being told by our erudite posters, how they have discussed this in the bar & the overwhelming conclusion is that they (Thai's) are stupid / lazy / can not run a business / put prices up when they shouldn't ....etc....etc

& now they print a chart saying that they (Thais) more competitive then over 101 other countries like Italy / South Africa etc.

I look forward to you rectifying this mistake.........................

.

http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/GCR_Rankings_2013-14.pdf

don´t forget the exploiding salary for the ordinary thai worker from about 9000 baht per month and a 60 hour working week and prices and net profits from all kind of companies far over the clouds. only slaves are cheaper :-D

[JohnThailandJohn]

Improving is always a good thing unless it has to do with Thailand and it is TV Posters weighing if it is a good thing or not.

[DrTuner]

Being competitive and actually competing seem to be separate issues.

[wabothai]

I wonder how one measures a country's competativeness.

[wabothai]

I wonder how one measures a country's competativeness.

[sanuk711]

The report came from the World Economic Forum based in Geneva --but does that really matter if I could find a report in a dustbin saying that Thailand was falling behind all the other countries---& I'm sure it would be warmly welcomed & soundly agreed upon in every bar.

They are within 7 places of being as competitive as China That's why VW & others are coming here

But no your right....Thais what are they worth....

.

It really must be hell living here for some of you guys........... lets just all hope they do not do well at anything else.

Edited September 3, 2014 by sanuk711

[bkkden]

These numbers were just released by the World Economic Forum group. The organization that runs the Davos event each year!

[lifeincnx]

These numbers were just released by the World Economic Forum group. The organization that runs the Davos event each year!

Do we all need to wait for the age of enlightenment? What is your point?

Edited September 3, 2014 by lifeincnx