India has been ranked 44th in the year 2018, up one notch from last year, in terms of competitiveness in the annual rankings compiled by International Institute for Management Development (IMD) which saw the United States (US) topping the list. The US improved three positions to return to the top spot, driven by its strength in economic performance, government efficiency, capital provision and digital infrastructure.
Regarding India, the report stated that some of the challenges which India has to face for the year 2018 would be skilling of manpower and employment generation, streamlining the implementation of goods and services tax and balancing high growth with sustainable development goals. It also noted that digital literacy and adequate bandwidth at rural areas and mobilisation of resources for infrastructure development needs are few more key areas where the government needs to concentrate.
Hong Kong and Singapore were ranked second and third respectively. Besides, the Netherlands and Switzerland were the other two nations in the top five slots. Others in the top 10 list include Denmark (6th), the UAE (7th), Norway (8th) and Sweden (9th) and Canada (10th). Meanwhile, China (13th) continued with its steady rise in rankings over the past five years, climbing 10 spots since 2014, fuelled by a strong economic performance of its domestic market and workforce employment.
Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center has pointed out that countries at the top of the rankings share an above average performance across all competitiveness factors, but their competitiveness mix varies. He also said that one economy, for example, may build its competitiveness strategy around a particular aspect such as its tangible and intangible infrastructure; another may approach competitiveness through their governmental efficiency.
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