Date: 18 July 2007
Time: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Venue: New World Renaissance Hotel, Makati City
The State of Philippine Competitiveness 2007
Getting to C: Competencies. Clusters. Communities. Convergence. Competitiveness.
2007 marks the 11th year of the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center’s partnership with the Institute of Management and Development (IMD), a Swiss-based leading European graduate management institution, in presenting the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WYC).
The WCY analyzes and ranks the ability of economies and regions (55 as of the 2007 edition) to create and maintain an environment that has the most efficient structures, institutions and policies that encourage the competitiveness of enterprises. It has also become a worldwide reference point on statistics and opinion data that guide policy-makers, analysts and investors in decision-making.
The Philippines has seen its lowest ranking in global competitiveness in five years, placed at 45th out of 55 countries for 2007.
The competitive landscape of the Philippines shows both highs and lows among specific factors. Among economic performance indicators, prices of goods remain competitive. However, the state of our domestic economy, including economic diversity and GDP growth rates per capita, should be improved to support a favorable business environment for enterprises.
Government efficiency remains a concern despite privatization measures and a reduced government deficit. As stated at the outset, allocation for development expenditures is severely reduced due to high interest payments for foreign debt. According to the Medium-Term Public Investment Program 2006-2010, infrastructure investment should amount to P342.2 billion each year. However, provision for the 2007 budget for infrastructure, as shown in National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), only amounted to P100 billion.
Business efficiency received the highest rank among the four factors this year, owing to developments in the labor market, especially with competitive remuneration levels for professionals, workers, and management. Despite this improvement, growth in employment rate is not sufficient to reach the medium term target growth of 7%.
The Philippines also improved in terms of technological infrastructure, but this was not enough to bring about overall competitiveness in infrastructure. The advantage in human capital lingered at the bottom tier, as reflected by the state of primary and secondary education indices and expenditure for the education and health sectors. To have a booming economy and for business to flourish, human resource capability must be addressed as it underlies the needed component to support businesses, the economy and invariably, global competitiveness.
This year also marks another significant event, as the National Competitive Council (NCC) updates the public on the initial steps undertaken by public-private partnerships to address competitiveness challenges facing the country. Since its inception in October 2006, the NCC has been at the forefront of addressing how shaping measures to improve the Philippines’ competitiveness.
An Action Agenda for a Competitive Philippines (.pdf)
Mr. Francis G. Estrada
Asian Institute of Management (AIM)
State of Philippine Competitiveness National Conference 2007 (.pdf)
Dr. Federico M. Macaranas
AIM Policy Center
Action Agenda per NCC Work Group
Competitive Human Resource (.pdf)Atty. Emerico O. de Guzman
Human Resources
Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP)
Efficient Public and Private Sector Management (.pdf)
Mr. Baltazar N. Endriga
Management
Management Association of the Philippines (MAP)
Efficient Access to Financing (.pdf)
Mr. Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr.
Financing
Philippine Exporters’ Confederation, Inc. (PHILEXPORT)
Improved Transaction Costs and Flows (.pdf)
Mr. David L. Balangue
Transaction Costs and Flows
Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX)
Seamless Infrastructure Network (.pdf)
Mr. Meneleo J. Carlos, Jr.
Infrastructure
Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI)
Energy Cost-Competitiveness and Self-Sufficiency (.pdf)
Francisco L. Viray
Energy
Trans Asia Power Generation Corporation
Updates on National Competitiveness Council (NCC) (.pdf)
Amb. Cesar B. Bautista
Summation and Call to Action
National Competitiveness Council