A static performance is not enough when our competitors are accelerating, says BusinessNZ. Commenting on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, BusinessNZ Chief Executive Phil O’Reilly (left) said this was the clear message from this year’s report.

Two years ago New Zealand ranked as the 20th most competitive nation in the world; last year that slipped to 23rd; and this year it is 25th – because New Zealand’s score has remained stable while other countries have improved.

Mr O’Reilly said the report was helpful in highlighting areas for improvement.

“Some of the problem areas result from New Zealand’s geographic location and small population size, including domestic market size (60th), state of cluster development (60th), value chain breadth (59th), local supplier quantity (58th) and intensity of local competition (45th).

“But other problem areas are more within our power to fix. We should focus on doing better in the areas of balancing the budget (112th), taxation as a percentage of profits (51st), quality of infrastructure (50th) and government debt (47th). These reflect a need for more restrained, better quality government spending.”

“Gaining better scores around innovation and technological readiness should also be a priority.

“New Zealand has retained high rankings for many of the foundational elements of competitiveness – health, education, low corruption, low trade barriers, low inflation and ease of starting a business. We need to build on these to gain higher rankings in the more sophisticated areas of business and trade.”

The Global Competitiveness Report ranks countries according to their ability to compete internationally, using factors such as markets, institutions, infrastructure and human resources.