India, China to be global leaders in manufacturing competitiveness

• India, along with China, will become global leaders in manufacturing competiveness by 2015, according to the recently published 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index.
• The competitive index is a collaboration between Deloitte and the U.S. Council on Competitiveness, which has been quoted in the latest issue of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)'s quarterly magazine, 'Making it: industry for development'.
• Based on the views of over 400 senior manufacturing executives worldwide, the index has rated the current overall manufacturing competitiveness of 26 countries.
• In five years' time (2015), it has said the world's top ten countries in manufacturing competitiveness will be ranked as follows: China, India, Republic of Korea, Brazil, the U.S., Mexico, Japan, Germany, Poland and Thailand.
• In effect, the index has thus revealed that a new world order for manufacturing competitiveness has emerged. "The rise of three countries in particular — China, India and the Republic of Korea — appears to parallel the rapidly growing and important Asian market," the news report in the UNIDO magazine has said.
• Most important drivers of global manufacturing competitiveness are the classic factors of production — labour, materials and energy.
• The next four drivers are "contributory" government forces; economic, trade, financial and tax systems; the quality of physical infrastructure; government investments in manufacturing and innovation; and the legal and regulatory system.