Brunei leapfrogs six places in WEF Global Competitiveness Index 2019

• Oct 11, 2019

The World Economic Forum (WEF) rates Brunei as the world’s 56^th most economically competitive country in the world out of 141 countries this year, rising six places from 2018 when the Sultanate was ranked at 62^nd place.

The 2019 Global Competitiveness Report measures the strength of 103 key indicators including inflation, digital skills, institutions, macroeconomic stability, health, environment, human capital, markets, innovation and productivity across 141 countries.

Brunei headed the list in ICT adoption (26^th), labour market (30^th), institutions (50^th), infrastructure (58^th) and skills (59^th).

Under the first pillar of institutions, the Sultanate ranked first in the category of absence of terrorism incidence, low number of homicide (9^th), and government long-term vision (18^th).

Meanwhile in the second pillar – infrastructure – the nation scored high in electricity supply and drinking water, both at 28^th place.

In the third pillar ICT adoption, Brunei fared high in Internet usage at 12^th place and mobile broadband subscription at 13^th place. And under sixth pillar, skills, Brunei fared better in primary school students to teacher rate in primary education at 10^th place.

Under the seventh pillar, the nation also scored high in trade tariff at 3^rd place and trade openness category at 8^th place. And under the eighth pillar, the nation was at 5^th place under the category of redundancy costs.

Led by Singapore, the East Asia and the Pacific region is the most competitive in the world, followed by Europe and North America. Hong Kong SAR (3^rd) and Japan (6^th) also feature in the top 10.

Vietnam (67^th) is the country whose score improves the most globally. But the region is also home to economies with significant competitiveness deficits, such as Cambodia (106^th) and Lao PDR (113^th).

Asia’s big economies, including India and Indonesia, fell in the annual ranking. The report published on Wednesday, had Singapore overtaking the United States (US) to reach the top spot among 141 countries and regions. Singapore headed the list in infrastructure, including road quality and the efficiency of its ports and airports.

Vietnam showed the greatest improvement among countries and regions, ranking 67^th and rising 10 places, helped by the trade war that has pushed manufacturers out of China.

Indonesia fell to 50^th place, down five spots from the previous year. The report calls on ASEAN’s biggest economy to improve people’s access to technology, which has become more widely available in recent years.

Indonesia stood in fourth place in ASEAN – trailing Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand – due to its market size and macro- economic stability.

Improvements are also visible in Indonesia’s financial system. Brunei was 5^th in ASEAN.

Hong Kong was the 3^rd most competitive economy worldwide, rising four places from last year, driven by improvements in its health sector and financial system.

Source: https://borneobulletin.com.bn/brunei-leapfrogs-six-places-wef-global-competitiveness-index-2019/