India, along with China, will become global leaders in manufacturing competiveness by 2015, according to the recently published 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index.
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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.
And, 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.
According to senior manufacturing leaders, who participated in the study, the 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.
A review of the countries featuring in the index has indicated that several newcomer economies are soaring in importance as manufacturing hubs.