The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has lowered Taiwan’s ranking in terms of competitiveness by two notches to 13th in its latest World Competitiveness Yearbook, citing decreased government and business efficiency.
The ranking was the nation’s lowest performance among 60 economies around the world since 2009, according to the report issued by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based institute yesterday.
Among countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia overtook Taiwan, which dropped to fourth place this year, while Singapore and Hong Kong continued to rank first and second in the region, the institute said.
The Taiwanese government’s efficiency ranking dropped to 12th position this year from eighth last year because of rising government deficits, an aging society, higher risks of political instability, decreased government transparency and increasing social injustice, the institute said.
As for business efficiency, the nation’s ranking declined to 17th worldwide this year, from 10th last year, due to increased loss of local talent and fewer foreign talent in the country, IMD data showed.
In terms of infrastructure, Taiwan dropped to 17th place this year, from 16th, last year, it said.
However, the nation’s rating on the economic performance subindex improved to 14th place this year, from 16th last year, because of improved economic conditions, higher investment and lower unemployment, the data showed.
Commenting on the report, the National Development Council said: “About 60 percent of sub-categories of government and business efficiency were based on surveys filled out by business owners in Taiwan, which was conducted in spring this year, and the result was affected by the then ongoing protest against the cross-strait service trade agreement.”
Nevertheless, the council said it would continue its efforts to improve the nation’s fiscal condition, policy implementation, business environment and labor regulations to enhance government efficiency.
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