Thank you, Mongolia

Credit to Author: MARLEN V. RONQUILLO| Date: Sat, 01 Jun 2019 16:30:33 +0000

MARLEN V. RONQUILLO

A few things about Mongolia, courtesy of a routine Google check:

– It is a landlocked country, sandwiched between China and Russia (imagine a country with no access to the sea).

– With roughly 3 million people, it is the most sparsely populated sovereign state in the world despite its geographical spread and immensity.

– It has very little arable land, and much of the country is grassy steppe.

– Around 30 percent of the population are still nomadic, and horse culture is still “ integral.”

– It is a cold, cold country.

Why did I present the fast facts about Mongolia? What is the relevance to us of this cold country of horsemen and tribes?

We have to thank Mongolia. Had Mongolia been situated elsewhere — and not in the Asia-Pacific region — we would have been the least competitive country in the whole region. The kulelat and cellar dweller, according to the ranking of the IMD Competitiveness Center, were it not for the existence of a pasture country called Mongolia in the Asian region.

What about the other countries in the Asia-Pacific, the backward ones during the ‘60s, a time when the Philippines was the second most competitive country in the entire Asia-Pacific region? They are all ahead of us on the competitiveness scale.  Some of these previously backward countries in the region are not only ahead of us; they are way, way ahead of us in the competitiveness ranking.

So the official boast from some government functionary, that we have to be proud of our improved ranking on competitiveness, cited the numbers without a realistic context. While we were ranked 46th of the 63 countries surveyed, putting that ranking in context and with a perspective will jolt us into this sad realization. That in the entire Asia-Pacific region we were ranked second to the last — a very embarrassing ranking. And we only beat a country of nomads.

Take note of this.  In our own sub-region, the Asean, we were the certified cellar dweller, kulelat, to use a more candid description. The top country in the ranking is within the Asean region, and this is Singapore.

The IMD Center used 230 indicators to evaluate the 63 countries on how they met these benchmarks. Based on four general criteria: economic performance, government efficiency and that includes rule of law, business efficiency, and environmental sustainability/education.

The IMD ranking cited our improvement in some areas. But not at a level that would put us at par with countries — big or small — in the Asia-Pacific region. Let us take note of the fact that IMD is essentially tracking economic competitiveness.    The “rule of law” component in the benchmarks had a laser-like focus on the business fairness and ease of doing business, not on our record on human rights or basic human freedoms.  Had IMD strayed into the area of human rights and basic human freedoms, we would have ranked lower than Mongolia.

The level of official corruption was only measured to the extent that it was related to actions that hobbled or slowed-down the conduct of business and enterprise. Still, IMD cited the “ corruption “issue at the official level. But the so-called “tara” at the customs bureau and the “tongpats” that crooks at other government agencies impose on ordinary people have yet to be factored in.
Anyway, we have to state this with conviction. Thank you, Mongolia.

The IMD ranking on our competitiveness is more or less similar to the ranking given to us by another Europe-based business school, the Opus Dei-run IESE Business School, or the graduate school of business of the University of Navarra.  The IESE makes it a yearly rite to list the world’s “smartest cities” based on roughly 10 distinct benchmarks, including as economy, technology, human capital, social cohesion, mobility and transportation, public management and urban planning.

I distinctly remember a piece I wrote on the smart city rankings and Metro Manila’s place (“Global list of smart cities gives MM kulelat status,” The Manila Times, July 19, 2016). It said:

“Where was Metro Manila? It was given a kulelat status, 145th out of the 181 cities surveyed. In contrast, the Vietnamese city named after Uncle Ho — Ho Chi Minh City — was in the middle of the list with the Chinese cities of Canton and Shenzhen.

“Why was Metro Manila among the kulelats? It was viewed as failing the 10 distinct benchmarks used by the IESE.”

Of course, the sheer stupidity of some of our policies that relate to the quality of human life is there for all the whole word to see. Take our policy on traffic alleviation and compare that policy with that of Singapore’s, which has been ranked by the IMD as the most competitive in Asia.

I will say this for the nth time. The convoy of the Prime Minister of Singapore gives way to buses because of the firm belief that mass carriers should have preferential access to roads. Here, the MMDA wants to ban provincial buses from entering Metro Manila to free up the roads for cars and other private vehicles. Private vehicles, tens of thousands of them, choke the Metro Manila roads daily with an average load of 1-½ passengers.

Yet, the MMDA, instead of taking action against the private vehicles, wants to ban the efficient carriers, a policy that assaults transport science, data and sanity. Considering that mass mobility is now the fourth rail of democracy, the MMDA policy is a stark demonstration of how anti-science, anti-progress and anti-people many of our policies are.
No wonder the ranking institutions have ranked us either consistently low or very, very low.

The post Thank you, Mongolia appeared first on The Manila Times Online.

http://www.manilatimes.net/feed/