Taiwan moved up three spots to 8th in the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook published June 17 by Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development, achieving its best ranking in the annual report since 2013.
In the survey of 64 major economies worldwide, Taiwan is third in the Asia-Pacific behind Singapore, fifth, and Hong Kong, seventh. The country placed ahead of Australia, 22nd; China, 16th; New Zealand, 20th; Malaysia, 25th; and South Korea, 23rd.
Switzerland moved up two spots to top this year’s survey, followed by Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, in that order.
Among the four main categories the report uses to assess an economy’s overall competitiveness, Taiwan made the greatest headway in economic performance, jumping to sixth in the world from 17th last year, with subcategories including domestic economy, employment, international trade and prices all showing progress.
In business efficiency, the country moved up five spots to seventh on the back of strong showings in attitudes and values, finance and labor market.
Taiwan inched up one place to 14th in infrastructure thanks to advances in education, scientific infrastructure, and health and environment. The report said Taiwan has the highest number of R&D personnel per capita, as well as the third highest spending in total R&D and corporate R&D as a percentage of GDP.
In terms of government efficiency, the country also climbed one spot to eighth as a result of improving business legislation, institutional framework, public finance and societal framework. (SFC-E)
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