Taiwan scores high in global competitiveness report

Taiwan recorded its best-ever performance in the Global Competitiveness Report released this month by the Genevabased World Economic Forum, reflecting the nation’s improving business and regulatory environment. With a score of 5.26 points, up 0.05 from last year, Taiwan ranked 13th among 142 economies surveyed by the WEF. Singapore, Switzerland and Sweden took the top three places. “This result indicates that Taiwan’s global competitiveness remains strong,” Christina Y Liu, minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, said. “We expect the overall ranking to move up next year.” Taiwan topped eight of the report’s 111 indicators, including patent and industry cluster numbers, as well as local market competitiveness. As the fourth best performer in Asia, Taiwan trails Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. South Korea, the island’s arch rival in many key high-tech sectors, fell two spots to 24th in the world. Taiwan trailed South Korea in 2008 when the pair ranked 17th and 13th, respectively, but gained the upper hand 12 months later and has not looked back since. The gap between the two countries is now 11 places, according to the CEPD. On May 17, Lausannebased International Institute for Management Development awarded Taiwan sixth spot in this year’s World Competitiveness Yearbook.