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Pakistan ‘least efficient innovator’ in Asia
ISLAMABAD: A new ‘Creative Productivity Index’ (CPI) developed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) has ranked Pakistan as the least efficient innovator.
Pakistan is ranked 23rd with weaknesses in fostering a competitive business environment and it provides little incentive for firms to innovate, says the report released on Friday.
Also read: ADB revises Pakistan outlook upwards
According to the index, Myanmar and Cambodia have also been ranked as the least efficient innovators, while Japan and South Korea have been ranked as countries most efficient in the Asia and Pacific region at turning creative inputs into tangible innovation.
Of economies with high creative inputs, Singapore and Australia are less efficient at turning those into outputs. Of those with lower creative inputs, Pakistan and Cambodia are less efficient at turning inputs into outputs.
The index uses 36 input indicators to measure the capacity and incentives for innovation, including how many global top 500 universities a country has, the urbanisation rate, spending on research and development, protection of intellectual property rights, and corruption and bureaucracy.
The eight output indicators to measure innovation include the number of patents filed, export sophistication, value added to agriculture, and the number of books and films produced.
The CPI aims to give policymakers a unique tool to measure progress in fostering creativity and innovation in 22 Asian economies along with the United States and Finland for comparison purposes. It measures the innovative and creative capacity of economies by relating creative inputs to outputs.
On the input side, creative productivity is measured on three dimensions: the capacity to innovate, incentives to innovate and how conducive the environment is to innovation. The output side measures innovations by considering both conventional indicators, such as the number of patents filed, as well as a broader set of measures of knowledge creation.
On innovation inputs alone, Singapore topped the rankings with strong political institutions, protection of intellectual property, and contract enforcement. Among Asian countries, Hong Kong, China topped the list in terms of innovation outputs due to a high level of export sophistication and its prolific film production industry.
The CPI differs from existing innovation-related indices by focusing on how efficiently countries turn their creative inputs into innovation outputs rather than just the absolute level of creative inputs.
Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014
Comments (18) Closed
The news is not correct. We are the most efficient country in the world after Afghanistan in terms of corruption. The input we put into corruption is endless and the output is tremendous.
Pakistan is really full of talented people ! Very innovative people in getting new excuses for loan from uncle sam , gulf countries ( donations actually) , ADB , china , imf, world bank , and list goes on , then invest it in corruption, sectarian killings , protests, scandals and again list goes on and what world gets is a new pakistan with GDP around only 300 billion dollar , robust foreign currency reserve of 13 billion dollars , world class railways with all imported engines from various nations , super luxurious PIA with a depleting age old fleet, robust democracy where a prime minister has all the power in decision making except foreign affairs , internal security . Along with fact that prime minister himself is an established bussinessman and is one of the richest in pakistan with cumulative wealth around 4 billion dollar along with another ex prime minister . So much achieved in 6 decades , who says pakistan is not a innovative country !
I guess being innovator is not connected with protests. That's the ability of the Govt itself. So, PMLN please don't link this news with protests!
Thanks to the democratic forces in this country, who don't care about Pakistan, as long as they save democracy.
@jj If you are talking about these 3-4 months then yes may be Pakistan is the most corrupt country but remember my country India had the most corrupt Government. If you would compare scams done by Corrupt Congress you would know that the total money was equivalent to Entire Pakistani budget for 8 years. But now situation is almost reversed, everything is going online & Transparent
Who says? terrorist production is in full swing.ask hafeez syed.this commodity is innovated from Pakistan 's own soil.
does any one remember the water car!
I hope this reverses.
@jj :Bhai dont underestimate power of indians in curroption ..Here also we did some curroption by manipulating index.
Pakistan is inundated with parasite that survives by creating infighting and therefore most of the resources are being diverted. Look at the current situation in Islamabad. Before any innovation comes, Pakistan needs to flush this parasite out.
Now Pakistanis will say "isme India ka hath hai"
come on pakistan, you have lots of potential and talent. if the talent is unearthed Pakistan will be superpower.
@Aaditya I agree. You and jj are both right. The difference in India really is that India doesn't have waderas, sardars (both primarily landlords) who live exactly the same way little kingdoms were run 1000 years ago. People depend on these landlords for everything and their demands (whethere reasonable or not) are met with acceptance. They don't pay any taxes and there is no accountability with respect to how they treat their people. Another difference is that India has done really well in education, whcih can not be denied by anyone. I recently attended a course at MIT and in a class of around 45, 19 were from India. I always wish to see Pakistan progress in education the way India has done. Evrything else will take care of itself.
Least efficient in innovation (for useful things) would be correct statement. No one should be surprised. With low literacy rates (millions cannot read or write) resulting in low skill work force, wide spread corruption and mostly corrupt polititions its a perfect formula for disastour. 5% people controlling 95% of wealth by ripping off the nation, protecting each and all under guise of DEMOCRACY. What is the solution? Well, its really upto people of Pakistan. Either to stay loyal to crooked and inefficient politicians who have not done much for the nation or to vote honest capable, educated people to send them to parliament. Choice is clear. Make right choice or keep going down and down, untill you have nothing. By voting for crookes, you've destroyed your country for yourselves. Vote for right people and save your country from further destruction, atleast for your children, and for fellow Pakistanis.
Pakistan is nothing compared to us in corruption, scams and scandals. Yeh trophy tou humari hai bhai...!!!!
@sharabi I don't care about India or the world I care about my country, and this is the real cause for the down fall of my mother land. No corruption means = Merit for every talented student. Great and free medical treatment for all. Jobs for the people on merit. Food/housing for the under privileged Speedy Justice for all No one above the law This is what I want for my Pakistan. When the above is achieved it is then and then only I will look around or beyond my boundaries.
There is no need to look for 36 input indicators to measure the capacity and incentives for innovation. The best indicators are the incompetent and corrupt rulers taking their turns and the incompetent MNAs and MPAs having fake degrees in the National and Provincial assemblies. The news should not be a surprise for anyone because the whole world already knows it. 'It would have been a surprise only if the output would have been of wheat grain by sowing barley'.
The input is MNAs and MPAs and the output is the Present Pakistan.
Is there any forum in the world who can measure most corrupted leader of the country!!! I am damn sure that we will be on the top of that list.