Thailand
Thailand: Human capital focus advised for GCI
Thailand should boost human capital investment to increase its global competitiveness index ranking after dropping to 40th this year from 38th last year, says an academic.
Asst Prof Wilert Puriwat, dean of Chulalongkorn Business School, said the government and the Education Ministry are the key players for improving human resources.
“Upgrading human capital is the fastest way to increase the country’s competitiveness and productivity,” he said. “We should improve the educational system and people’s critical thinking abilities.”
Yesterday, Chulalongkorn Business School reported that the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index (GCI) rankings for 2019 saw Thailand fall two spots.
Thailand’s score on skills that measure education and workforce skills slipped from 63 to 62.3 with a drop in ranking from 66th to 73rd as the skills of new university graduates declined, especially in the area of critical thinking, Asst Prof Wilert said.
The country’s best performance was macroeconomic stability, climbing to 43rd place from 48th and scoring 90 out of 100 on good policies to control the inflation rate.
The health score improved from 87.3 to 88.9, boosting the ranking from 42nd to 38th. Product markets edged up to 53.5 from 53.4, but the ranking improved from 92nd to 84th.
Thailand’s worst performance was in infrastructure, with a drop from 60th to 71st because of congestion and low efficiency in railway services, even though basic infrastructure such as electricity and airport logistics rated well.
A lower score was given for institutions that involve security, property rights, social capital, checks and balances, transparency/ethics, public sector performance and corporate governance, with a drop from 55.1 to 54.8 in score and from 60th to 67th in ranking.
Thailand’s overall score improved, rising from 67.5 in 2018 to 68.1 in 2019, according to the GCI.
“Despite the improved score, our ranking dropped because other countries had greater improvements,” Asst Prof Wilert said. “No matter how much we develop, there are always others doing faster and better than us.”
Vietnam leapfrogged 10 spots to 67th. The country’s health was evaluated highest at 81 points, which ranked 71st. Market size hit 72 points, ranking 26th.
Vietnam’s ICT adoption is better than Thailand’s, with a jump from 95th to 41st as Vietnam’s internet users grew by 59%. Thailand’s ICT adoption was ranked 62nd, up from 64th.
Singapore was ranked No.1 out of 141 countries worldwide, beating out the second-place US, the most competitive country last year.
Singapore stood out from the crowd with a perfect score on macroeconomic stability and skills. Thailand managed a greater score than Singapore on airport connectivity.
The GCI is divided into four major categories, built on 12 pillars including enabling environment, which covers institutions, infrastructure, ICT adoption and macroeconomic stability.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1768614/human-capital-focus-advised-for-gci