June 16, 2022
BANGKOK – The centre, under the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), announced its World Competitiveness Ranking 2022 list of 63 countries, which saw Thailand’s ranking slump.
Theeranan Srihong, president of the Thailand Management Association’s (TMA) Centre for Competitiveness, said on Wednesday that the country’s rankings on all four factors fell, resulting in poorer overall competitiveness.
Threeranan said Thailand’s economic performance fell from 21 in 2021 to 34 this year, plunging 13 places. Government efficiency also dropped, by 11 places from 20 to 31, while business efficiency fell nine ranks, from 21 to 30. Infrastructure took a slight hit, declining by one rank from 43 to 44.
“The ranking this year reflects our country’s fragile economic fundamentals. We depend too much on external factors and our productivity has been continually low,” Threeranan noted.
He said the fall in government efficiency by 11 ranks showed the lack of confidence in government policy to revamp the economic structure, besides lack of confidence in the government’s ability to support the public and economic sectors in a way that they become stronger.
Both state and private economic sectors would need added “agility” and resilience in responding to the fluctuating global economic situation for Thailand to remain competitive, Theeranan said.
The TMA would hold its Thailand Competitiveness Conference 2022 titled “Thailand: Fit for the Future” on July 7 to present ideas on how Thai businesses should adjust and adapt to remain competitive globally, he added.
The IMD meanwhile ranked Singapore 3rd (from 5th last year), Malaysia 32nd (from 25th), Indonesia 44th (from 37th) and the Philippines 48th (from 52nd) in competitiveness.
It ranked Denmark, Switzerland, Singapore, Sweden and Hong Kong as the top 5 most competitive countries globally.