The Philippines, which made significant strides in moving up the global competitiveness rankings in 2013, is on track to achieve its target of reaching the top third of global competitiveness rankings by 2016. Out of eight major competitiveness reports in 2013, the Philippines recorded gains in seven of them, including in World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, the International Finance Corporation/World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report, and Transparency International Corruption Perception Index. Much of the gains resulted from programs implemented over the past 12 to 18 months.
The capacity of a national economy to achieve sustained growth is measured by the growth competitiveness index. The World Economic Forum defines global competitiveness as “the ability of a country to achieve sustained high rates of growth in Gross Domestic Product per capita.” Nations with high levels of productivity are domestically and globally competitive and have the capacity to explore market opportunities to expand employment and real income growth in the long term. Structures, institutions, and policies within the index explain why some economies prosper faster than others.
Global competitiveness involves a nation’s macroeconomic policies, government regulations, cost of doing business, education and skills upgrade, Research and Development (R&D) and innovation, sustainable environment plan, and conformity with global standards. In May, 2013, the Task Force on Ease of Doing Business was created to cut red tape in processes to start, operate, and close businesses in the Philippines. The result was a 30-country jump in the key measure, the biggest improvement worldwide in 2013.
With ASEAN integration and the Philippines hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 2015, some government agencies such as Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Health, the Department of Public Works and Highways, and the Philippine National Police presented their accomplishments in 2013 in the context of their goals for 2015, during a public governance forum on “Take the Lead,” an initiative of the public-private task force National Competitiveness Council (NCC) and the non-government organization Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) under their Islands of Good Governance (IGG) project. Governance and competitiveness are strongly connected, which is why the IGG project is important in achieving inclusive growth, the NCC noted. Performance of agencies is measured through a “balanced scorecard” and audited by external institutions to ensure “real, substantive performances, and breakthroughs,” the ISA said.
Many economic opportunities opened for the Philippines last year because of sterling performance in competitiveness rankings, resulting from its policy of good governance and transparency. The goal this year is for the government to sustain the gains — and achieve more — assisted by the private sector, to help the country reach a record top third globally in competitiveness by 2016.