How Competitive is Your Favorite Country?

The World Economic Forum, (WEF) is an independent, international organization, that is, according to committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).  They are possibly best known for hosting the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.  But they do more including preparing a range of research reports.  One of them is the Global Competitiveness Index, a fascinating look at countries around the world.

The 2010-2011 the report ranked the competitiveness of 139 countries with Switzerland holding the number one spot, and Chad coming in at 139.(http://www.weforum.org/issues/global-competitiveness )
In between  those two we note the US at #4, down a spot from last year, and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), five of the most talked about countries today, ranked as #58, 63, 51, 27 and 54. 

On the surface this may seem surprising unless one digs into the report and considers WEF definition of competitiveness “the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country”.   The ranks don't consider just one measure but represents a complex analysis of each country.

To develop the rankings countries are evaluated using the WEF’s 12 Pillars of Competitiveness which are Institutions, Infrastructure, Macroeconomic environment, Health and primary education, Higher education and training, Good market efficiency, Labor market efficiency, Technological readiness, Market size, Business sophistication and Innovation.  Twelve areas to consider as you do your own analysis of a country.  The report is filled with interesting observations along with lots of data.   It considers not just these 12 categories but their importance based on the developmental stage of each country.   Take some time and you may gain a fresh understanding of your favorite country.  What is its number and what does that tell you?

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

No matter how much we prepare for our travels we often find It’s the small differences that can surprise us.  For me, my most recent visit to Paris started with the simple project of buying a bouquet of flowers as a hostess gift.  I stopped at a shop where I'd bought flowers before, selected a bouquet, paid, walked out and then noticed there were only five roses , not six, the half dozen I expected. I checked other bouquets in the display – all five, not a set of six to be seen.  And then I remembered, it’s Paris, flowers are given in odd numbers.  Of course a set of five.  Flowers in sets of odd numbers are normal, appropriate, expected. 

This little insight led me to think about numbers in general as part of a travel experience.  What number is appropriate when giving something?  What are the meanings of numbers?  Is seven lucky?  Is four not?  But that's not all we need to think about.

Let's not forget when we’re learning the basic translations of our polite vocabulary (please, thank you, can you help me?) that we should also pay attention to the numbers.  One to ten as a base.  Numbers as hours of the day – all 24 of them.   Useful to help understand what time a meeting will begin or what that bouquet of flowers will cost. 

To find out how to translate and pronounce the numbers there are all the language sources you'd usually use:  Google Translate, download apps and podcasts through iTunes (www.apple.com/iTunes), find books, hand held translators, DVDs through Amazon (www.amazon.com) or do a language specific web search.  Choices for everyone. 

Will I Have Time?

As I am about to pack my bags and head to the airport its no surprise that I’m making my way through the list of things-do-before-you-leave:  pay the bills, pick up the cleaning, send the itinerary to the family.  But these practical steps are only part of preparing for a trip. 

At least six weeks before a trip I set a Google Alerts for my destination – it gives me a compilation of news from a variety of sources.  Tomorrow  I’m headed to Paris so I set an Alert  for France.  This week reading through results  I learned, among other things,  that France risks being assessed millions of euros in fines if it doesn’t improve its efforts to protect the European hamster. ( http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/06/10/37285.htm)  Will this come up in conversation at a dinner with my French colleagues?  Will I be seen as informed and current on the issues in France?  I’ll let you know.

Thanks to a recent travel article by my friend Ann Beard, the founder of the Protocol & Diplomacy International – Protocol Officers Association (www.protocolinternational.org) I was reminded that it import to pack copies of our passport and itinerary.  If you’ve ever had to have a passport replaced while traveling you know it simplifies the process if you can present a copy of the one that has gone missing.  Make copies, scan and email a copy to yourself, send one to someone who can send it to you if all else fails.

But preparation isn’t all about practical to do/not to do lists.  Take some moments and think about what you want to see, experience, investigate.  Even if you know your schedule will only allow 15 minutes for personal time.  For me, heading to Paris, my goal  enjoy some good, fresh French Camembert.  If I’m lucky I’ll have time to head to the cheese shop of Marie Ann Cantin (www.cantin.fr) at 12 rue de Champs du Mars.  A delightful space, filled with delicious cheese and staffed with kind, helpful people.    Wherever you go decide one thing you’ll do if you have that bit of personal time. Race through an exhibit at a museum?  Visit a famous church?  Tour a historic monument?  Find the best chocolate shop in the city?  Enjoy the adventure, the special moment, the fun of planning.  Who knows if there'll be time but we can hope!

South Sudan: Almost a New Country, Almost Independent

Sudan before the Split

In a little more than a month, 34 days actually, South Sudan will formally declare its independence. (July 9, 2011).   After years of war, years of waiting, this southern part of the country of Sudan will split off from the North, becoming an independent state. 

Since February when the results of the largely peaceful vote were counted the work of organizing a new country have moved forward.   A national anthem has been selected, a new flag designed, a name discussed.   There has even been a study of areas where a new capital, replacing Juba the city that has been the seat of the transitional government, might be established.   This has been a time of great hope. 

Sadly in the midst of the preparations for the arrival of Independence Day fighting between north and south broke out again this time in area of Abeyi.  This oil rich area still has the right to chose whether to be part of Sudan (the north) or the new country of South Sudan. But that choice may not be made by a peaceful vote but rather by violence and ultimately some peace settlement.  (http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/world/US-Seeks-to-Ease-Tensions-Between-North-South-in-Sudan-123136908.html).   It is sad that a new country, yet to have the basic structure in place to serve its people is caught in the midst of a civil war again.  At a distance we hear about the fighting.   We know it needs to be ended before South Sudan can really be independent, an active participant in global diplomatic and economic activities.  

What we seldom hear about, or as observers at a distance think about, is all the work, the decisions that must be made to have a country function in our complex systems.  Simply stating that you are a country, doesn’t do much.  It doesn’t create a postal system (or a world recognized postal code), an identifier for a web address, or an area code for a telephone system.  All of this must wait. The key step forward is recognition by The United Nations including being added on the list of the worlds countries that it maintains.   This will occur after July 9. 

Then the International Standards Organization can step forward and create the two or three letter codes that will identify the country (think FR for France, ZWE for Zimbabwe).  These codes are keys to domain names, internet suffixes among other things.  (Think of Amazon.com, amazon.de, amazon.co.uk)

And don’t forget, telephone  (country codes, area codes) codes allocated by the International Telecommunications Union. Postage stamps must be designed, issued and the Universal Postal Union must recognize their validity so that mail can flow around the world.  How will information flow in and out of South Sudan if these are not established and published quickly?  (For more refer to How to Start a Nation, Trappings of State: www.economist.com/node/18330465).

But phones and the internet are just two of the challenges.  How will the airports be identified and how will air traffic controllers engage?  Who will issue passports and what will they look like?

How will trade agreements be established?  There must be a foreign service, diplomats, ambassadors to be appointed.  Although this has started there is much to be done.    The government must win recognition from most, if not all, of the 190 plus countries that exist today.

So many steps, large and small, so many details, decisions to be made.  Step by step over the next days, weeks and months South Sudan will move forward, make the choices that will create the newest country whose national day we can celebrate in a month and four days.

Governments want to know: Are you Happy?

At a time when daily headlines announce death tolls from natural disasters, on-going wars, and disease it is a surprise to discover that governments around the world are asking their citizens:  are you happy?   

For years the idea that individuals, much less governments, were concerned with personal happiness was thought to be a frivolous preoccupation of Americans, especially those in California.  That may no longer be true.  Today governments of countries as diverse as Britain, France and China are evidencing concern and curiosity about the Happiness of their citizens.

For Americans the subject is an integral part of the culture. Their concern with happiness dates back to the words of one of the country’s founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson.   He cited as an inalienable right of all people the “pursuit of happiness”.  These words came to be understood as each person having the right to Be Happy.  That search for that happiness has been the subject of movies, books and songs throughout history and even serious research and studies. There is a  Journal of Happiness Studies that includes articles such as Who is Happy to Work More:  Americans or Europeans?  What Makes Entrepreneurs Happy?

As the titles of these articles suggest that Being Happy doesn't just create smiling people.  Now it seems that around the world there is growing sense that levels of a population's happiness may have an impact on the economic well being of a nation.   According to a recent article in the Economist, France’s President has suggested a new measure: GDH, Gross Domestic Happiness as an alternate to the traditional measure, GDP, Gross Domestic Product. (http://www.economist.com/node/18678991)   The term Gross Domestic Happiness isn’t new – it dates back to 1972 and was attributed to Bhutan's former King Jigme Singye Wangchuck.  President Sarkozy’s idea is new. 

In Britain the government plans to study the happiness of the population to help guide policy making.  According to a recent Reuter’s article,) in 2012 Britain’s Office of National Statistics will conduct a Well Being survey  (www.ons.gov.uk/well-being).  Their plan – to ask 200,000 people questions including:  How satisfied are you with your life nowadays? And How happy did you feel yesterday? (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/uk-britain-wellbeing-idUKTRE71N3C620110224)

But the idea doesn't rest just with European Union member countries.    The Los Angeles Times recently ran a piece titled “China Checks its Own Mood” that describes China’s efforts to convey the idea that the government is working to “let people live more happily and with more dignity.”
(http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/16/world/la-fg-china-happiness-20110516).

Does your government want to know if you're happy today? 

What will I have to pay?

Wherever financial analysis appears - in print, on line, podcasts, the radio or early morning TV shows, there’s likely be to be a discussion of the value of one currency in relation to another.  China needs to revalue, the euro is shooting up, the yen is not moving--- followed by endless of discussions of what that means.  Then, we struggle to understand the implications of all these movements on our business, our national economy. 

However, sometimes our interest in exchange rate relationships is more personal. We just want to know if our favorite snack, drink or gifts we plan to purchase will be more or less expensive when we travel than when we buy them at home.    What will it take to buy a hamburger in Paris?  A martini in Cape Town?   Thanks to the Economist (www.economist.com) or Travel+Leisure (www.travelandleisure.com) we can find some answers.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1986, the Economist created the Big Max index.  At the most simple level it tells us the price of a Big Mac, in US dollars in over 100 countries around the world. If you look at the chart of the  July 2010 index posted on the currency website Oanda (www.oanda.com) you can see that the Big Mac has an average cost of $3.73 in the US.  However if you’re in China you’ll likely pay about $2.02 (the lowest cost of the countries listed) while in Norway the Big Mac is hits $8.16 (the most expensive in this list).  (http://www.oanda.com/currency/big-mac-index).  The purpose of the chart and analysis isn’t to help us to budget for our visits to McDonald’s but rather to illustrate the relationship, the parity or lack of it, between the currencies of multiple countries.  It’s a serious and interesting study.

There is an also an Alternate Big Mac index reported in 2009 that looks at how long people in 19 cities have to work in order to earn enough to purchase that Big Mac.  In Toronto it's 12 minutes while in Nairobi, it’s two hours.    www.economist.com/node/14288808?story_id=E1_TQNRRRDR

But as readers of this blog know from an August 2010 post it’s not just our Big Mac that’s used to compare costs around the world.  In  2004 the Tall Latte index appeared, in 2007 it was the I-pod and 2010 the cupcake was the measure.

Today it’s the martini.  The June issue of Travel+Leisure includes the Martini Index. www.travelandleisure.com/travel-blog/carry-on/2011/5/19/cost-of-martinis-around-the-world

According to this report in New York a martini will cost $19, $10 in Prague and in Paris, $25.  This report updates Travel+Leisure’s 2005 study of the same drink.  It isn't a surprise that costs have changed.   Six years ago a martini at a luxury hotel in Paris cost $26,  $15 in New York’s and in Shanghai it was $8  (today it’s $13). 

For me what's more  interesting than the changes in cost are the differences in cities listed.  In 2011we  see Cape Town, Singapore, Mumbai or Dubai  none of which appeared in 2005.   Warsaw, Geneva, and Seoul all included in 2005 aren't shown in this year.   In both lists:  Paris, New York, Shanghai, Buenos Aires and Mexico City. 

Martinis, Big Macs, I-pods and cupcakes give us a way to understand not only what a snack or gift may cost but also the relationships between currencies and the flow of travel and business around the globe.  What will be compared next?  What would you consider?

Africa: Land of Opportunities?

It’s easy to think of Africa of a continent of civil wars, famine, epidemics and lost hopes.  But that’s not the full story.  The May issue of Harvard Business Review (www.hbr.org) includes an article “The Globe: Cracking the Next Growth Market: Africa” that tells us there’s more to the story than doom and gloom.
http://hbr.org/2011/05/the-globe-cracking-the-next-growth-market-africa/ar/1

First of all, Africa is not one place.  It’s a continent with over 50 different countries, both large and small.  (As of this writing Sudan is the largest but July 9 when it splits in two, Algeria with over 33 million people  moves into that spot.  Smallest?  On the continent it’s Gambia with a population of approximately 1.5 million people.)

This article points out three factors that are changing the view of Africa as a potential market.  There is increased political stability in countries like Angola and Mozambique, reduced inflation and deficits and third more market friendly policies in places like Nigeria and Morocco.  The possibilities are drawing companies from China, India, Canada, France and the US to invest and expand.  (Among US companies Wal-Mart, Coca Cola and Yum Brands all are represented in multiple countries on the continent.)

But having noted that these countries present exciting opportunities the article goes on to caution the reader  to look carefully at each country.  History, culture, currency, income levels vary significantly.  The economies and possibilities differ in many ways.  Drawing on the research done by the McKinsey Global Institute (www.mckinsey.com), the authors divided the countries into four groups based on their economies.    The categories and examples of countries included?   Oil Exporter (Nigeria, Algeria, Gabon and Botswana); Diversified (South Africa, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco) Transition (Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana) and Pretransition (Mali, Ethiopia, DRC). 

Simply looking at the chart used to illustrate the differences in these economies tells us that no two places are likely to be alike. Differences abound.  But looking forward, asking where should we be in 2013, 2016 and beyond, Africa and its many countries seem to merit consideration.   The challenges of entering these markets will be significant but as this article suggests, the rewards are likely to be significant also.