Why we have to be Globally Competitive

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has recently published its annual Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) for 2013. The GCR is a document that assesses the competitive landscape of predetermined number of economies (148 in the latest report) and provides insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity.


 The report remains the most comprehensive assessment of national competitiveness worldwide. I am a faithful reader of the GCR due the increased level of globalisation over the past decade, which means that for us to prosper we have to be able to compete favourably for opportunities in the international stage.  Naturally people including us Batswana tend to be very good when it comes to individual and company competitiveness. We go to great lengths to position our careers and companies in a manner that give us competitive advantage when it comes to individual and company competitiveness. But when it comes to country competitiveness – something that should be the collective responsibility of all of us, we grapple as we have the mind-set that country competitiveness is purely the responsibility of Government. My passion for global competitiveness is mainly driven by my strongly held view that if our country is a success, so will be our companies and ultimately the individuals in Botswana. I believe that reports like GCR should stimulate public discourse because they make us understand the key factors that enable job creating economic growth and help to explain why almost all barometers of competitiveness always rank countries such as Singapore, Switzerland and Sweden as top performers when it comes to raising income levels and providing opportunities for their respective inhabitants.

Editor's Comment
Human rights are sacred

It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...

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