Asia's competitiveness highlighted<\/p>\n
PARIS (AFP): Low labor costs and the relocation of industrial
\nactivities are two controversial subjects indirectly highlighted
\nby a report on competitivity which put Singapore and Hong Kong at
\nthe top of world rankings last week.<\/p>\n
At first sight the high score by many countries in southeast
\nAsia bears out the advantages of low expenditure by the public
\nsector and of low labor costs.<\/p>\n
And the report warned that some of these countries are
\nproviding their children with a better education than that
\navailable in some countries in western Europe.<\/p>\n
The authors of the report, the World Economic Forum, which
\norganizes an annual international conference in Davos, noted some
\nof the factors which strengthened competitivity.<\/p>\n
These were: an open economy, strong investment, flexible
\nlabor markets and high domestic savings.<\/p>\n
The listing, which was based on 155 variable factors, put
\nSingapore first, Hong Kong second, Taiwan ninth and Malaysia
\ntenth.<\/p>\n
But the balance of factors is complex as shown by the ranking
\nof Japan, in 13th place, and Thailand 14th, and China 36th.<\/p>\n
The report noted that countries in southeast Asia are
\nbeginning to catch up with standards in advanced industrialized
\ncountries, arguing that annual per capita income is higher in
\nSingapore and Hong Kong than in Italy or Canada.<\/p>\n
In terms of real personal incomes, Hong Kong and Singapore
\nrank fourth and fifth in the world, but the report did not
\nanalyze how wealth was distributed through these populations.<\/p>\n
Success in the region was based on open economies. Although
\nmany developing countries sought to make imports expensive,
\ncountries in southeast Asia concentrated on exporting and
\nwelcomed direct investment by foreigners and had won a huge share
\nof such transfers.<\/p>\n
Some evidence has also emerged recently that manufacturing
\ncompanies, in the sector of computers for example, consider
\nproduction in proximity to markets to be more competitive than in
\ndistant, cheap-labor countries, because the costs and delays of
\ntransportation can result in the arrival of products which have
\nbeen out-dated by fast-moving market trends.<\/p>\n
Many industrial companies in Germany are seeking to escape
\nfrom very high domestic labor charges and the high value of the
\nmark. In some cases they turn to sites in Asia, and notably in
\nChina, but this is motivated in part by a need to produce close
\nto the new and booming Asian markets.<\/p>\n
Each year China attracts investment from abroad of between
\nUS$30 billion and $35 billion.<\/p>\n
Many German companies are investing heavily in Britain where,
\nsome analysis suggests, labor costs in some regions are lower
\nthan those in South Korea.<\/p>\n
Britain was the highest ranked of leading European countries,
\nbeing placed 15th, whereas the last country on the basis of
\ncompetitiveness was Russia, after Brazil, Venezuela, Hungary,
\nIndia and Poland.<\/p>\n
By contrast the United States was placed fourth.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asias-competitiveness-highlighted-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }