TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has been able to rely on its experience with previous virus outbreaks, its healthy financial system, and its generalized healthcare coverage to help manage the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in its Global Competitiveness Report on Wednesday (Dec. 16).
In contrast to previous editions, the new report did not rank countries according to their performance but discussed their ability to recover from the pandemic and transform themselves by paying attention to “productivity,” “people,” and “planet.”
Several crucial reforms will be necessary over the next four years in order to achieve a more qualitative revival of the global economy, according to the WEF. During the run-up to the pandemic, several types of reform stalled, including access to finance, trade openness, innovation, and the creation of breakthrough technologies.
“This unusual moment calls for unusual and much-needed shifts in policy,” the WEF said, asking political and business leaders to concentrate on long-term policies.
The WEF will resume ranking countries for their competitiveness in the 2021 report. In the 2019 edition, Taiwan stood at No. 12, with Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan the only Asian economies ranking higher.
