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In a national competitiveness survey by the Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, Korea¡¯s ranking rose three notches to 29th place this year. But when the IMD announced its rankings last year, Korea stood at 38th place. That¡¯s because at that time, eight regional economies including Germany¡¯s Bavaria, Spain¡¯s Catalonia, Italy¡¯s Lombardy and China¡¯s Zhejiang were included in the rankings. This year, the IMD excluded them and ranked only nations and revised its previous rankings. That¡¯s why Korea¡¯s rank last year changed from 38th to 32nd.
Since this administration took office in 2003, the country¡¯s national competitiveness ranking has hovered in the same region, at 32nd, 31st, 27th, 32nd and 29th. In the Asia-Pacific region where most of its competitors are located, Korea¡¯s ranking has been stuck in 10th place for the last five years. Only three countries ? Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia ? are behind Korea there. This is an embarrassment. Over the last five years, while Korea was stuck in 10th place, China jumped 12 notches from 27th to 15th place, while India rose 15 notches from 42nd place to 27th, beating Korea. Over the last five years, Korea¡¯s economy grew at a rate of 4.2 percent, China 9-10 percent and India 8-9 percent. Each time Korea rose and slipped, China and India advanced four or five steps.
The difference between them and our country was the type of leadership exercised by heads of state in setting objectives and leading the country. Since Deng Xiaoping, the economy, science and technology have never been pushed out of the top spot in terms of China¡¯s national policy objective. By focusing on set objectives for the last 20 years, China has become the world¡¯s fourth-largest economy. Due to free market policies implemented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, India has seen explosive economic growth and its national competitiveness level has also risen.
Whether we will see five fat years or five lean years will be determined by what type of leadership we choose on Dec. 19.
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