India has witnessed the sharpest rise among the Asian economies, with a six-position jump from 43rd to 37th rank on the annual World Competitiveness Index compiled by the Institute for Management Development, largely due to gains in economic performance.
After staying stagnant for five years, India's economic competitiveness improved significantly in 2022, jumping six places on the IMD's World Competitiveness Index. Meanwhile, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China proved to be the top-performing Asian economies.
After a stable but stagnant five years, 2022 witnessed significant improvement in the competitiveness of the Indian economy, IMD said, adding that this is largely due to gains in economic performance (from 37th to 28th).
The domestic economy has experienced a stratospheric rise from 30th to ninth position in a year, Institute for Management Development (IMD) noted.
The labour market, a key sub-factor in the business efficiency parameter, moved up from 15th to 6th, while management practices and business attitudes and values also made major leaps.
"With Prime Minister Narendra Modi having made major improvements in the context of retrospective taxes in 2021, India appears to have restored the trust of the business community. Its re-regulation of a number of sectors, including drones, space and geo-spatial mapping, also likely played a role in the country's stellar performance in the 2022 WCR," economists at IMD World Competitiveness Centre said.
The 63-nation list, which is compiled by the Switzerland-based Institute of Management Development (IMD), ranks Denmark on top, while Switzerland slipped from the top to the second position. Singapore has also regained the third spot in 2022 from fifth in 2021, the IMD's economic competitiveness ranking data shows.
"The Nordic nation takes the lead for the first time in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, which also highlights how inflationary pressures are causing pressing socio-environmental concerns to take a backseat," the report says.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), first published in 1989, is a comprehensive annual report and worldwide reference point on the competitiveness of countries. It provides benchmarking and trends, as well as statistics and survey data based on extensive research.
It analyzes and ranks countries according to how they manage their competencies to achieve long-term value creation. An economy’s competitiveness cannot be reduced only to GDP and productivity because enterprises also have to cope with political, social and cultural dimensions.
Governments therefore need to provide an environment characterized by efficient infrastructures, institutions and policies that encourage sustainable value creation by the enterprises.
The IMD World Competitiveness Rankings emphasize a long-term trend highlighted in past editions – that the countries on the top of the list each have a unique approach to becoming competitive.
The World Competitiveness Ranking is based on 333 competitiveness criteria selected as a result of comprehensive research using economic literature, international, national and regional sources and feedback from the business community, government agencies and academics.
The criteria are revised and updated on a regular basis as new theory, research and data become available and as the global economy evolves.
(with inputs from PTI)
