 "India climbs to 41st slot on competitiveness ranking")
India has moved up three spots from last year to 41 on the IMD World Competitiveness Scoreboard, 2016. The country's ranking had fallen to 44 in 2015, from 35 in 2012. Hong Kong replaced the US as the world's most competitive economy. Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada have got slots in the top 10.
India's improvement is in sharp contrast to the sagging fortunes of other Asian countries. According to the report, Asia's competitiveness declined since last year's ranking with Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea Republic, Indonesia and China falling from their 2015 positions. "The decline has been caused by a fall in commodity prices, a strong dollar and the deterioration of balance sheets in both the private and public sectors," says professor Arturo Bris, director, IMD World Competitiveness Center.
The rankings are based on about 340 criteria grouped under four broad heads - economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. The report also gave weight to responses of 5,400 business executives who were asked to assess the situation in their own countries.
The increase in India's ranking comes on the back of an improvement in business efficiency, in which India's ranking improved from 33 to 31 over the past year. The indicator measures the extent to which enterprises are performing in an innovative, profitable and responsible manner.
The sub-indices show India has improved in its ranking on labour market from 22 in 2015 to 12 in 2016. Management practices improved from 47 in 2015 to 36 in 2016 and attitudes and values improved from 23 in 2015 to 18 in 2016. But, a part of these gains have been offset by a deterioration in finance from 27 in 2015 to 33 in 2016.
On economic performance, India ranks 16, well above many western European nations. The country has improved its ranking on international investment, up from 31 in 2015 to nine in 2016, and on employment from nine in 2015 to five in 2016. But, these gains have been offset by poor performance on prices, where its ranking has gone down to 55 in 2016 from 37 in 2015.
On government efficiency, which measures the extent to which government policies are conducive to competitiveness, India ranks 47. Within this segment, it has seen an improvement in public finance, institutional framework and business legislation. Though it has seen its position slip on fiscal policy. The country has seen a steady decline in its score on infrastructure from 53 in 2012 to 58 in 2016.
