MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines rose to 39th place (four notches from its previous ranking of 43rd) in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 of the Switzerland-based IMD World Competitiveness Center (WCC).

The results of this year’s World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) were released recently to the public by the AIM - Policy Center in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). Since 1997, the AIM - Policy Center has been the partner institute of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) for the WCY.

The Philippines’ rank improved primarily because of developments in international trade, economic performance, government efficiency, public finance, fiscal policy, domestic economy and employment. Despite the positive rank, the Philippines remained low in terms of business efficiency, corruption mitigation and infrastructure, which are considered as major stumbling blocks to the country’s competitiveness.

The yearbook is reputed as a worldwide reference point on the competitiveness of nations, ranking and analyzing on how an economy manages the totality of its resour-ces and competencies to increase the prosperity of its population.

The WCY report is used as a key reference for governments, companies, investors, analysts, and decision-makers in assessing country performance, applying rules of law, restoring faith in public institutions, ensuring food and energy security, planning for natural disasters and climate change, providing entrepreneurial opportunities like jobs, skills training and education in the countryside, addressing mitigation in cities and configuring urban areas.

The APC is the policy think tank of the Asian Institute of Management. The center aims to enhance the overall competitiveness of Asian countries through research, policy studies and advocacy through proactive consultations and dialogues across sectors. Its mission is to foster public policy environment that emphasizes the primacy of globally competitive enterprises in meeting human security needs through the intellectual capital build-up.

original source: The Philippine Star
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