Taiwan Ranks 12th in WEF Global Competitiveness Index

Taiwan Ranks 12th in WEF Global Competitiveness Index

Taiwan's ranking in the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) global competitiveness index edged up one notch this year to 12th compared with last year, according to the forum's latest report released on September 4.

The index is calculated based on three sets of indicators-- basic requirements such as institutions and infrastructure, efficiency enhancers including higher education and training and labor market efficiency, and innovation and sophistication factors including business sophistication and innovation.

Taiwan did well in several sub-indicators of the 12 pillars covered in the survey of 148 economies around the world. For example, with every 100 people having 68.7 fixed telephone lines, Taiwan was ranked first in the fixed telephone lines per 100 members of the population indicator.

Taiwan's annual inflation of just 1.9 percent also ranked No. 1 in that sub-indicator in the macroeconomic environment pillar.

The country's malaria cases per 100,000 population is estimated as the lowest in the world, as is the disease's impact on business.

In terms of business sophistication, Taiwan's state of cluster development got a top ranking, while its local supplier quantity was ranked third in the world.

Taiwan's "intensity of local competition" was another area that won a high ranking (No. 2) in the "good market efficiency" pillar.

Some of the areas Taiwan was given poor ranking include its 3.6 percent deficit share of GDP that was ranked 91st, the 0.75 women-to-men ratio in the labor force (ranked 87th) and legal rights index in the financial market development pillar, ranked 89th.

There are "most problematic factors" for doing business in Taiwan, too. These include policy instability, inefficient government bureaucracy and insufficient capacity to innovate, according to the report.

Other negative comments on doing business in Taiwan include "restrictive labor regulations," "tax regulations" and "tax rates," the reported noted.

Switzerland was ranked the most competitive country in this year's report, followed by Singapore, Finland, Germany, the United States, Sweden, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Ahead of Taiwan at 11th was Norway, and Qatar came next at 13th.

ENDS

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