Summary of Our Competitiveness Rankings

This is a press statement from Bill Luz.

As we head for the end of the year, here’s a summary of how we performed in various global competitiveness reports in 2012 :

– In the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, we rose 10 ranks to No. 65 out of 144 countries. We were also up 10 countries the year before; the 20 -country jump is one of the highest in the world in the last two years.

– In the IFC Ease of Doing Business Report, we remained in the same position – No. 138 out of 185 this year vs. No. 136 out of 183 last year.

– In the IMD World Competitiveness Report, we dropped by 2 to No. 43 out of 59.

– In the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, we rose by 8 to No. 107 out of 184 countries.

– In the Transparency International Corruptions Perception Index, we rose by 24 to No. 105 out of 176, though numbers are not directly comparable to the previous year because of a methodological adjustment. Nonetheless, we rose within ASEAN from No. 7 to No. 5 out of 10.

– In the Global Information Technology Report, we rose by 4 to No. 86 out of 142, adjusted for new countries added to the sample.

– In the Global Innovation Index, we rose by 12 to No. 95 out of 141, also adjusted for new countries added to the sample.

– And finally, in FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index, we fell by 12 to No. 95 out of 118, also adjusted for new countries added to the sample.

As we wind down to the end of a busy year, I want to give you this update on one of our programs to improve our ranking in the IFC Ease of Doing Business Report. As stated above, we ranked only No. 138 out of 185 economies and have not made any significant improvements in the last three years. We are determined to change this.

First, we have created a task force from our staff that is analyzing all 10 government processes measured in the Ease of Doing Business report. This task force has designated Account Officers for specific, important indicators. We have held a briefing with the government agencies in charge of each of these processes and they, in turn, have designated their officers in charge of each process improvement who we shall be working closely with.

Second, we are working more closely with IFC itself, both in its Manila and Washington DC offices. We have started a series of videoconferences with each of the IFC analysts in charge of an indicator so we get a better understanding of how to design our improvements. So far, we have completed two long videoconference calls with IFC Washington (finishing one early this morning) and met four of the 10 teams handling the preparation of the report on the Philippines. We also work closely with both IFC and World Bank staff in Manila to develop our action plans per process improvement.

Finally, our own Working Group champions from the private sector as well as other members of the business community have stepped forward to work with our staff to improve and streamline government processes which entrepreneurs have to go through.

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.

On behalf of the National Competitiveness Council, I wish to thank you for your support and encouragement throughout the year and look forward to our continued strong partnership next year.