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By APD writer Alice
The stable quality of education and technology infrastructure along with high achievements in international trade and investment, and a strong labour market have helped Singapore continue leading the world in economic competitiveness, according to the latest edition of the World Competitiveness Ranking by the Institute for Management Development (IMD) based in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, the US dropped by 7 places in the ranking due to the impact of trade war.
On June 16, the IMD World Competitiveness Center released a report on the world competitiveness ranking in 2020 showing that the Singaporean economy ranked first for the second time in a row in terms of competitiveness among 63 economies worldwide.
It was followed by Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Hong Kong respectively. Meanwhile, Venezuela continued to be at the bottom of the ranking for the second consecutive year.
The report stated that the factors behind Singapore's success include its strong economic performance, which stems from robust international trade and investment, employment and labour market measures.
In addition, Singapore is highly regarded for its stable quality of education and technology infrastructure such as telecommunications, broadband Internet speeds and high-tech export industries.
"Singapore is a small economy with similarities to Denmark and the Netherlands. Its rise to the No. 1 spot was largely driven by the relative ease of setting up business, the availability of skilled labour and its cutting-edge technological infrastructure," it said.
Denmark ranked second thanks to its strong economy, labor market, education and health systems. In addition, the country also gained high scores on international investment, labor productivity and business performance.
Switzerland climbed to 3rd place in this year's ranking, up one place from the previous year. Strong international trade has supported the economic efficiency of Switzerland, a country with a consistent quality of education, health care and scientific infrastructure.
However, the most notable point in this year's ranking is that the US fell to 10th position, down 7 places from the previous year. Meanwhile, China also dropped to the 20th position, down 6 places.
According to the IMD, the trade war hurt both the US and Chinese economies, reversing their positive growth trajectories.
It said that except for Singapore and Taiwan, who increased 7 places to the 11th, all other Asian economies had their ranks decreased.
This year, the IMD's World Competitive Ranking Report adds new criteria, reflecting the importance of achieving the UN's sustainable development goals. The new criteria provide the progress of an economy in its efforts to achieve sustainable goals in the past 10 years.
The report has been released every year since 1989. The ranking results are based on analysing hard data on employment, living expenses and government spending as well as soft data from surveys of business leaders on topics like political stability and enforcement of intellectual property protection in a ranked economy.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
