Phl registered biggest gains in global reports

CEBU, Philippines - The National Competitiveness Council reported that the Philippines has achieved the biggest improvements in the ASEAN region over three years in various global competitiveness reports.

In a statement sent to The FREEMAN, NCC said the country registered gains from various global reports: World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report (+33) and Global Enabling Trade Report (+28); World Bank-International Finance Corporation Doing Business Report (+53); Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (+49); and the Heritage Foundation Economic Freedom Index (+26)

“2013 was a breakthrough year for the Philippines, which registered gains in seven out of eight major global competitiveness reports,” read the statement. “In 2014, we expanded our list to cover more reports in an effort to more effectively diagnose areas that need improvement.”

The council, however, pointed out the nation must improve in areas such as infrastructure, education, research and development and disaster response to gain rating upgrades in other reports.

It also noted its newly organized working groups continue to address such issues to step up gains in those sectors.

In a previous interview with Guillermo Luz, private sector co-chairman of NCC, he said the country has done measures to solve the downsides in both micro and macro aspects of the economy.

One of these is the task force being formed to improve the ease of doing business in the country and work on reforms in government agencies regarding the indicators tracked by the survey.

“The results [of the survey] also show that our task force can be an effective group for driving change and improvements,” he said, referring to the inter-agency group which the council is part of.

"The NCC will continue to introduce changes designed to bring the country to the top-third of global rankings by 2016 from its starting point in the bottom-third of the tables three years ago," he said.

The key is to improve the downsides so the country can stand at par with the most business-friendly economies in the world, he said.   (FREEMAN)