Thailand Moves Up One Notch in Global Competitiveness Report 2017

Professor Arturo Bris

Countries in today’s global village need to exhibit their excellence in economics, business, government, and infrastructure, in order to do business on an intercontinental scale. Nations with these strong attributes bring about a substantial level of competitiveness in the world’s economic realm.

The latest report from the International Institute of Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Center in Switzerland revealed that Thailand’s world competitiveness ranking rose one spot this year to 27th from 28th in 2016.

Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha expressed his satisfaction toward Thailand's improved competitiveness ranking by IMD. He also praised all sectors that contributed to three straight years of increasing competitiveness. The competitiveness ranking illustrates that, since 2014, Thailand has made progress and exceeded the global average in 2015. The Prime Minister took the report as an indication of the government’s determined attempts in pushing the country forward.

The rankings are based on 260 indicators, two-thirds of which rely on hard data and one-third of which relate to the survey responses of over 6,250 executives from across the globe. Director of the World Competitiveness Center Professor Arturo Bris said that there is no single nation in the world that has succeeded in a sustainable way without preserving the prosperity of its people. He highlighted that "competitiveness refers to such an objective: It determines how countries, regions and companies manage their competencies to achieve long-term growth, generate jobs, and increase welfare.” Therefore, competitiveness, in his view, is a way toward progress that does not result in winners and losers. Because "when two countries compete, both are better off,” he concluded.