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A s s e t M A n A G e M e n t WeF competitiveness aSSeSSMenT RegaRDIng KoRean eFFICIenCy anD FInanCe by sanghyun woo Ph.d Ministry of strategy and Finance T he WEF (World Economic Forum) re- cently announced its global competi- tiveness rankings. Of 148 economies, the Re- public of Korea overall ranked 25th , down six spots from last year’s 19th. In particular, Korea ranked 33rd in goods market efciency and 81st in the fnancial sector, four steps and ten steps below last year, respectively. overview of wef’s assessment of national competitiveness Te World Economic Forum (WEF) an- nounces its World Competitiveness Index (WCI) every September. Tis year, 148 econ- omies were assessed based on surveys and statistics in three sub-indexes: basic require- ments, efciency enhancers, and innovation and sophistication factors. Te 12 pillars used for ranking include institutions, goods mar- ket efciency, and fnancial market develop- ment. Switzerland and Singapore retained their frst and second places, respectively, from last year. Finland stands in third place. Germany and the U.S. came in fourth and ffh, two steps up from the previous year. Compared to last year, Japan climbed one spot to ninth place. Australia was down one spot to 21st. China remained in 29th position. England and France fell two positions to 10th and 23rd respectively. Concerns about fscal integrity surround Spain (35th), Italy (49th), and Por- tugal (51st), as they continue to perform be- low the overall European standards. assessment of Korea’s national competitiveness Te 2013 WEF ranked the Republic of Korea 25th among 148 economies, down six spots from 2012, when Korea ranked 19th out of 144 economies. In a May report by another international organization that as- sesses global competitiveness, the Institute for Management Development (IMD), Korea switzerland singapore germany u.s. Japan u.k. 1(1) 2(2) 4(6) 5(7) 9(10) 10(8) australia france rep. of Korea China spain italy 21(20) 23(21) 25(19) 29(29) 35(36) 49(42) <TabLe 1> 2013 wef CoMPeTiTiVeness ranKings of MaJor eConoMies *the number in ( ) reflects the 2012 ranking