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Date: 13 July 2008
Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Venue: SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City

The State of Philippine Competitiveness 2008
Philippines at the Crossroads of Competitiveness

The Asian Institute of Management (AIM) Policy Center, the public policy think-tank of the AIM, presented the annual State of Philippine Competitiveness (SPC) National Conference on July 13, 2009 at the Function Room 1 of the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. In the Philippines, AIM serves as the local partner institute of the International Institute for Management Development (a leading business school based in Lausanne, Switzerland) which produces the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). The WCY measures and ranks the ability of economies to create and maintain an environment conducive to sustaining market competitiveness. Over the years, it has been a key reference for investors, analysts, and decision-makers in assessing country performance vis-à-vis other economies across the globe.

This year, the Philippines slipped down three places ranking 43rd among 57 countries included in the WCY despite an increase in its raw score from 50.48 to 54.49. The WCY also breaks down our performance into four competitiveness factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. The Philippines fared worse across all factors in 2009: we dropped nine notches in economic performance with this year’s ranking at 51, fell one notch in both government efficiency and business efficiency ranking 42nd and 32nd in these competitiveness factors respectively, and dropped eight notches in infrastructure with this year’s ranking at 56. These competitiveness factors are further disaggregated into sub-factors and the Philippines fared relatively better in terms of prices (ranking 14th), fiscal policy (13th), societal framework (20th), and labor market (5th). Critical sub-factors for the country include international investment (ranking 56th), public finance (54th), institutional framework (42nd), business legislation (50th), productivity and efficiency (53rd), basic infrastructure (57th), education (54th), health (48th), and scientific infrastructure (56th).

The SPC National Conference announced the WCY results to a larger audience and brings together key stakeholders from the business sector, academe, and government to help shape strategies and approaches in improving and sustaining the nation's competitiveness. For 2009, the conference theme was Infrastructure Gaps and National Competitiveness. The AIM Policy Center, in addition to presenting in-depth analysis of the overall Philippine ranking, focused on critical elements of infrastructure as areas meriting urgent and concerted action.

Undersecretary Elmer Hernandez of the Department of Trade and Industry delivered the government’s response on behalf of Secretary Peter B. Favila. Other speakers include Federation of Philippine Industries Chairman Meneleo J. Carlos, Jr., AIM Interim President Felipe B. Alfonso, AIM Policy Center Executive Director Ma. Lourdes A. Sereno, and Ateneo de Manila University’s Dr. Joseph Lim.

The audience was a good mix of representatives from the private sector, government, diplomatic corps, civil society, academe, development organizations and media. Distinguished participants include: Director General Lilia de Lima of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, Mr. Alberto Lim of the Makati Business Club, Ambassador Alistair Macdonald of the European Commission, and Ambassador Peter Sutter of the Embassy of Switzerland.

The SPC National Conference 2009 is organized together with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Philippines and sponsored by SM Investments Corporation, Holcim Philippines, Jollibee Foods, Toyota Motors, and EEI Corporation. Media partners include Business Mirror and PhilStar.com.

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