The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) has raised Taiwan’s ranking by 15 notches to eighth in the world in its latest World Competitiveness Yearbook, the country’s best performance since 1994.
The annual report on the world’s 58 most competitive economies, which is scheduled to be released by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based school today, shows that Taiwan saw the most improvement among other countries after it dropped 10 places, to 23rd, last year.
Government officials yesterday attributed the improvement to a strong rebound in exports, strengthened business confidence and relatively healthy financial conditions.
“The results indicated that the government’s efforts to promote the nation’s competitiveness have been acknowledged by the international community,” Council for Economic Planning and Development Vice Chairman Hu Chung-ying (胡仲英) told a media briefing.
Singapore and Hong Kong topped the US in rankings for the first time, placing first and second respectively, but the report said that they were so close that it would be better to define them as the leading “trio.”
In the top 10, Australia (fifth), Taiwan and Malaysia (10th) benefited from strong demand in Asia while Switzerland’s (fourth) position was characterized by strong economic fundamentals and a well-defended position on export markets, the report said.
IMD assigns scores based on criteria grouped into four main categories — economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure — each with four or five sub-indexes.
Taiwan made progress in all the categories, with government efficiency climbing 12 places to sixth and business efficiency rising 19 places to third, Hu said.
In terms of economic performance, Taiwan climbed 11 places to 16th, returning to the pre-crisis level with the sub-index of international trade growing 20 notches, which Hu attributed to export orders reaching a new high in March.
Taiwan edged up six places to 17th in infrastructure, compared with last year’s 23rd, with the sub-indexes of both scientific and technical construction rising to fifth, the report said.
The report said Taiwan had performed very well following the global economic crisis, thanks to strong demand in Asia and effective government policies, Hu said.
“This indicates that the government’s efforts to push an economic cooperation framework agreement with China and liberalize cross-strait exchanges in recent years have produced desirable results,” Hu said.
In its separate debt stress test to determine when participating nations will revert to a bearable public debt level of 60 percent of their respective GDP, IMD said that “the largest old industrialized nations — from Japan to the UK — will all suffer a debt curse, in the worst case lasting until 2084.”
Hu said Taiwan’s debt quality was still considered healthy because its public debt accounted for only 38.58 percent of its GDP, far from the benchmark level of 60 percent.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said the results were due to efforts by both the private sector and the administration.
“[Improvements have been made in] simplifying tax-filing procedures, encouraging private investment, removing barriers and building a more investment-friendly environment, which proves that all Cabinet members have been working hard since [former premier Liu Chao-shiuan’s (劉兆玄)] Cabinet,” he said.
Wu said that Liu had laid a good foundation for his administration’s performance.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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