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World Economic Report a Mixed Bag for CIVETS Countries
By
Carol Kopp
Sep 08, 2011 9:30 am
Indonesia and South Africa are the emerging nations group's top performers in the Global Competitiveness Index. You don't want to know where the US lands.
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Still, the US dropped only one place from a year ago, to 5th, behind not only Switzerland but Singapore, Sweden, and Finland.
Singapore and Japan were the only Asian nations to make the top 10. China came in 26th.
The Global Competitiveness Index is one of many ways to look at a nation’s economic health, relative to that of all the other nations in the world. It measures factors that are important to doing business, like the strength of a country’s infrastructure, the quality of education of its workforce, even the level of corruption among its bureaucrats.
That’s why it gets more attention in countries that are now well down the list but moving up fast. Like the CIVETS (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, and South Africa), or the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.)
Here’s how the CIVETS did in the survey:
Indonesia was the top performer in the list, at 46th. That’s a mixed blessing considering the problems noted in the forum’s report, including official corruption, a tangled bureaucracy, and infrastructure that is inadequate to the needs of modern business.
The forum report notes that it “remains one of the best-performing countries within the developing Asia region, behind Malaysia and China yet ahead of India, Vietnam and the Philippines.” But The Jakarta Globe worries that the nation dropped two places in the rankings, “bringing a sudden halt to an impressive climb that had seen it climb 11 places during the last two years.”
And, naturally, nobody likes to be reminded of their nation’s pervasive corruption and bribery issues.
South Africa ranked 50th and they’re pleased about that, as well they should be. Even among the BRICS nations, South Africa was second only to China, and ahead of Brazil, India, and Russia. The country also climbed four places in the rankings, after slipping nine places last year.
Turkey ranked 59th, not bad but a disappointment to the highly ambitious nation. Index watchers there are irked that Western European nations continue to dominate the top 10, and appalled that Turkey was overtaken in the index by countries like Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan.
Turkey is one of the world’s top 20 nations in terms of sheer economic size. But the report factors in issues like high taxes, an inefficient government bureaucracy, and over-regulation of taxes.
Vietnam landed in 65th place, after a year of runaway Inflation, a lack of access to financing for business, and political instability.
Colombia came in at 68th out of 142. The most problematic factors for doing business there: corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and inefficient bureaucracy.
Egypt, where business has barely woken up from the January revolution, was last in the group and not far from the bottom at 94th place.
Overall, the forum report finds that emerging economies, particularly in Asia, will continue to see relatively strong economic growth, at 6.6% in 2011 and 6.4% in 2012, while the US and Europe can expect slow or decelerating growth with persistent high unemployment and financial vulnerability.
In Brief:
You Can FedEx That
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx (FDX), has launched domestic next-day delivery service in Colombia’s six largest cities. The company opened direct international delivery to Colombia earlier this year.
Sushi for Colombia
Sarku Japan, purveyor of Japanese-style fast food in North American mall food courts, has opened three restaurants in Colombia. The restaurants in Medellin, Cali, and Pereira are franchises operated by a local company, Frisby S.A. The company expects to open five more outlets in Colombia this year.
Revolutionary Humor in Egypt
Once they get past that post-revolution danger zone, Egyptians are going to show that they can be entrepreneurial with the best of them. Still forced to get along without foreign visitors, Egyptian businessmen are reaching out to locals with revolutionary fervor, according to Gulf News, a publication based in the United Arab Emirates. Chic boutiques are posing mannequins against a backdrop of the Egyptian flag. Even date sellers in the street are labeling their finest fruit “revolution” or “martyrs.” A Cairo hotel worker told the newspaper: “This is one way to pay tribute to this landmark event. Also it reflects the sense of humor for which the Egyptians are popular.”
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Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
