Sara Wong: “Our competitiveness would worry an investor.”

Sara Wong, a professor at the ESPAE, explains that a low competitiveness index speaks of the ability a country would have to attract new investments. And in that sense, Ecuador has a lot to do. The challenge, he says, is to improve its efficiencies.

If an investor who is interested in our country today, had in his hands the index of competitiveness, what feeling would cause this?

There would be no doubt that he would worry. This index will always be necessary for an investment decision; it will depend on, indeed, in the type of investment, sector, and business. But it is worrisome because this year our competitiveness index has fallen, but our ranking drops much more.

This is a sharp drop. What influenced for the country to step back 15 positions in this ranking?

– The macroeconomic instability, the lack of innovation were two factors, but also its low marks in the efficiency factors, which are those with more weight in this measurement.

What weight does it have and what is included in this segment?

– Each sector has its weight. The basic requirements (the macroeconomic environment is included) have a 40%; innovation factors have a 10% and efficiency factors, 50%. In this last section we fall in three of six pillars: the goods market efficiency, the financial market, and the labor market.

Source: http://expreso.ec/economia/ecuador-economia-competitividad-ranking-caida-EY724420