'Asia losing its labor competitiveness'<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): Asia's potential as a market is a bigger
\ndraw for foreign investors than its cheap labor, according to a
\nsurvey of labor competitiveness published here.<\/p>\n
"Many countries in Asia may have already lost any competitive
\nadvantage they once enjoyed over more developed Western countries
\ndue to their labor situation," the Political & Economic Risk
\nConsultancy (PERC) said.<\/p>\n
"There is still plenty of inexpensive labor in Asia, to be
\nsure. But much of this labor lacks the skills required to perform
\nefficiently all but the most basic assembly tasks," it said in
\nits latest "Asian Intelligence" report Friday.<\/p>\n
It said that increasingly the key reason foreign direct
\ninvestment in Asia continued to expand was not because of cost
\nconsiderations "but because they need to invest if they hope to
\nbenefit from Asia's potential as a market".<\/p>\n
PERC was commenting on its survey of labor competitiveness in
\n16 countries that contrasted Asia with some of the main developed
\neconomy in the West.<\/p>\n
Asia did not come out well in the survey of 223 expatriate
\nmanagers who were asked about quality, cost, availability and
\nstability of skilled and unskilled labor.<\/p>\n
India came out top and Hong Kong last.<\/p>\n
But Australia, Britain, the United States and Switzerland all
\nranked in the top six. The bottom 10 were all Asian.<\/p>\n
On a scale from zero to 10, with zero representing the best
\nsituation possible and 10 the worst, India drew the best average
\ngrade of 2.80, followed by Australia, the United Kingdom, and the
\nPhilippines.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong's average grade was 4.92, putting it 16th, just
\nahead of Malaysia. Singapore was 14th and South Korea 13th.<\/p>\n
Factors in India's favor included the fact that labor was
\ncheap and plentiful, the survey said. At the other end of the
\nscale, Hong Kong was hurt by high costs and a tight labor market.<\/p>",
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