Thailand
Thailand ranks 38th in latest WEF index
Thailand climbed two spots to 38th place in this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) global competitiveness index 4.0 rankings of 140 nations.
The kingdom saw its score edge up from 66% last year to 67.5%.
The global competitiveness index (GCI) 4.0 measures national competitiveness — defined as the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity — and captures determinants of long-term economic growth on a scale from one to 100.
The United States topped this year’s list with a score of 85.6% followed by Singapore with 83.5%. Germany was 3rd (82.8%), Switzerland 4th (82.6%) and Japan 5th (82.5%).
The full report can be accessed at the World Economic Forum’s website. The full report on Thailand is available here.
Associate Professor Pasu Decharin, dean of the faculty of commerce and accountancy at Chulalongkorn University, an official partner of the WEF, said the results showed that Thailand is making strides to secure its place in the fourth industrial revolution.
Thailand’s key strength is its financial system, he added. In this section of the survey, Thailand ranked 14th with a score of 84%.
It scored highly for its availability of capital, credit services, variety of financial products, financial risk diversification system, financing of SMEs, financial support for start-ups, and the soundness of its banks.
Thailand ranked 18th for market size with a score of 74.8%. This is attributed largely to the strong accessibility of its market for both domestic and foreign companies which has boosted domestic consumption, investment and exports.
In looking into how the country could move closer to fully accomplishing the fourth industrial revolution, the survey pointed to its product market, Mr Pasu said.
Thailand ranked 92nd in this category with a score of 53%. It ranked 44th for its labour market with a score of 63%.
The survey also noted that free competition and less red tape or eased regulations to spur innovation would fuel further improvements in its overall score.
Meanwhile, the country ranked 66th on the list in terms of “education and skills” with a score of 62.99%.
Comparing to other countries that make up the Asean+3 bloc, Thailand ranked 6th out of 12 countries after Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and China.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the government has tried to keep the momentum of economic growth going this year. The International Monetary Fund said in June it expects that to continue in 2019 fuelled by tourism and exports of manufacturing goods.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1559754/thailand-ranks-38th-in-latest-wef-index