Health of banks, use of internet poor, says global competitiveness index

Bangladesh has fared badly in incidence of corruption, soundness of banks, land management, road connectivity and even access to internet when digital technologies are transforming economies around the world.

Such performance has led to decline by one notch in the country’s ranking of competitiveness to 103rd position among 140 economies.

In global competitiveness index (GCI) Bangladesh managed to secure 52 on a scale of 100, out of which 85.6 was scored by the top listed country, the United States of America. Bangladesh’s score is also below the global average of 60.

Prepared and published by World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday, the GCI report “offers insights into economies’ readiness for the future, social capital, endowment of disruptive businesses and debt concerns, among other indicators”.

Worldwide, the WEF has found a radical change in ‘competitiveness landscape’ caused by the impact of what is called ‘the Fourth Industrial Revolution’

However, embarking on the vision of Digital Bangladesh, the country has ranked 122nd among 140, scoring only 18.2 in terms of internet users as percentage of population, according to the report.

In view of its business dynamism, the country is placed at 120th position. Ranked second overall, Singapore is considered the most ‘future-ready’ economy.

Bangladesh stands at 120th position with a score of 28 in prevalence of corruption, 121st with 34.3 in road connectivity, 121st with 40.1 score in skills of graduates, 124th with 44 score in strength of auditing and reporting standards, 125th with 32.7 score in multi-sector collaboration, and 135th with a score of 15 in land administration.

The country’s overall ranking slightly fell despite increase in its score by 0.7 percentage points this year.

Bangladesh’s overall ranking declined as other countries accelerated their improvement, Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogye, said releasing the report in Dhaka.

In South Asia, India has advanced five positions to 58th, while Pakistan has been placed at 107th, Nepal at 109th and Sri Lanka at 85th.

Germany stood 3rd and Switzerland 4rth, according to the report.

The changing nature of economic competitiveness in a world that is becoming increasingly transformed by new, digital technologies is creating a new set of challenges for governments and businesses, which collectively run the risk of having a negative impact on future growth and productivity, the report further said.