MANILA-- The slip in the Philippines' ranking in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2016-2017 of the World Economic Forum (WEF) has been "disappointing" in spite of efforts to improve competitiveness, an official of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) said.
"Our score dropped minimally from 4.39 to 4.36 out of seven but it was enough to bring us down by countries. The world is so competitive that even small changes make a big difference in ranking," said NCC private sector co-chairman Guillermo Luz in a statement.
The Philippines fell 10 notches lower in the competitiveness ranking. From last year's 47th rank, the country slipped to 57th out of 138 countries included in the report.
The GCI measures a country’s competitiveness -- or the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine its level of productivity -- through 12 pillars.
Among the 12 pillars, the country has low rankings in goods market efficiency at rank 99, infrastructure at rank 95, and institutions at rank 91.
The Philippines has notable rankings in macroeconomic environment at 20th place and market size at 31st place.
The recent GCI noted most problematic factors for doing business in the Philippines such as inefficient government bureaucracy, inadequate supply of infrastructure, and corruption.
Luz said the latest ranking has brought the country away from its goal of being in the top-third of global rankings.
"We will need to focus even more on our challenges – bureaucracy, infrastructure, technology, and innovation – to make the country more competitive," Luz said.
Aside from the Philippines, rankings of other Southeast Asian countries have also declined.
Malaysia drops out of the top 20, falling seven places to 25 from last year’s 18th place while Thailand drops two notches to rank 34 and Indonesia falls four places to 37.
“A consistent theme for all the region’s developing countries is the need to make inroads into the more complex areas of competitiveness related to business sophistication and innovation if they are to break out of the middle-income trap,” the report noted.
Meanwhile the top 10 countries in WEF's GCI 2016-2017 are Switzerland, Singapore, United States, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, Japan, Hong Kong, and Finland. (PNA)