The Global Competitive Index 4.0 assessed 140 countries based on set of factors critical for productivity ranking Bangladesh to be 103rd –which is one step lower from last year’s 102nd position. The index integrates well established aspects in assessing the economies across 98 indicators under 12 pillars, with focus on Institutions, Infrastructure, ICT Adoption, Macroeconomic stability, Financial System. Some new metrics such as workforce diversity, press freedom, and how hierarchical the biggest companies are in a particular economy were added in this year’s study.
FIGURE: Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 by World Economic Forum
Even with weakened global competitiveness, Bangladesh’s overall score has marginally increased by 0.7 to 52.1 in 2018. Bangladesh has developed in adoption of information technology and improved performance in market size and business operations. Despite this marginal increase, Bangladesh stands as one of the lowest ranked countries in terms of technological readiness, labor market efficiency and higher education and training. This indicates that although the country has made notable strides in improving its technological infrastructure, perhaps the improvement isn’t significant enough when considered from a broader perspective.
Bangladesh is partially doing better in terms of macroeconomic stability, health and ICT adoption. Out of the 12 pillars, Bangladesh was ranked in 9 of them. Bangladesh stood 108th in the pillar Institutions with New Zealand as the best performer. Singapore was the best performer in Infrastructure metrics, with Bangladesh standing at 109th. Korea is ranked 1st with Bangladesh at 102nd position in the pillar for ICT adoption.
Bangladesh is lagging behind in institutions, skills, labor market, financial system and business dynamism compared to other South Asian countries. Similar to 2017, corruption remained as one of the top problematic factors for doing business in Bangladesh. Along with limited access to finance, high level of interest, policy instability, high tax rates and complexity of tax regulations are accountable for creating concerns for doing business.
In terms of regional comparison, India climbed five rungs to 62, while Sri Lanka dropped four positions to 85, while Pakistan and Nepal languished to 107 and 109 rankings respectively. USA ranked at the top in the overall ranking followed by Singapore, Germany and Switzerland.
Read more about Bangladesh’s Performance here.
Learn more about the report here: http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2018/
Author: Dipa Sultana is a final year undergraduate student at North South University and a Junior Associate at LightCastle Partners. With dual majors in Finance and Marketing, she aims to pursue higher degrees in Data Analytics.
