RI ranks very low in global competitiveness<\/p>\n
Adianto P. Simamora and Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's economy has become more uncompetitive, as
\nsuggested by the latest 2001 Global Competitiveness Report
\nreleased by the World Economic Forum on Thursday.<\/p>\n
This report, which ranks 75 countries, downgraded Indonesia to
\n64th place from 44th last year, overtaken by other countries that
\nwere previously well below Indonesia's ranking, like Peru, India,
\nEl Salvador, Bulgaria, Venezuela and Russia.<\/p>\n
Produced by Harvard University professors Jeffrey Sachs and
\nMichael Porter, the report measures the comparative strengths and
\nweaknesses of national economies.<\/p>\n
It combines existing economic data with the results of a
\nsurvey of 4,600 business executives, who provide opinions about
\neconomic factors not contained within reliable data.<\/p>\n
The survey examines competitiveness of countries in a
\ntimeframe of about five to eight years. Most of the analysis was
\ncompleted prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United
\nStates.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, Finland ranks first, replacing the
\nUnited States which slipped into second place. Japan, which
\ncontinues to experience economic stagnation, maintains a low
\nposition at 21st, down one slot from last year.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the survey's results, Gadjah Mada University
\neconomist Sri Adiningsih said that the drop in rank was \"pitiful\"
\nand it was apparent that even a weaker rupiah exchange rate
\nagainst the U.S. dollar had not made Indonesia more competitive
\nin the export market.<\/p>\n
She said the drop was closely related to the \"unsupportive\"
\ngovernment policies for the business community and the high
\nnumber of levies and duties.<\/p>\n
\"This drop (in the ranking) will greatly affect the
\ngovernment's efforts to attract (foreign) investors ... on top of
\nthat, the current political and security concerns will make our
\neconomic outlook more gloomy,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Sri said that while the government was busy with meetings on
\nthe ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), World Trade Organization (WTO)
\nand Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), it had forgotten to
\nincrease the competitiveness of Indonesian products.<\/p>\n
\"This is dangerous because how can a country with weak
\ncompetitiveness compete within the global market?\" she queried.<\/p>\n
Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef)
\neconomist Bustanul Arifin said that it was just further proof
\nthat Indonesia still has a lot of work to do and that key factors
\nwere the low quality of human resources and high rate of
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's ability to attract foreign investment was also
\nstill too low, proven by the number of sectors still confined to
\nthe negative investment list, he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-ranks-very-low-in-global-competitiveness-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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