Sliding economic ranking: Korea Inc. should raise global competitiveness.

(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on July 8) -- No one is happy to read news that Korea's global economic ranking has continued to slide. But we have to recognize that the country has been losing its competitive edge to the so-called BRICs economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China. It's time to wake up to the stark reality that the ranking is likely to go down further if the nation fails to work out a new strategy to find a new growth engine. According to a World Bank report, South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled $929.1 billion in 2008, the 15th highest among 186 countries. Its ranking was one notch down from 14th in 2007 and four positions down from 11th in 2003. It is disappointing that the country has been overtaken by the BRICs over the last five years. Last year, Australia outgrew Korea. What's gloomier is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted in April that Korea will drop to 16th in 2009 and 2010 before reclaiming the 14th place in 2011. Even Goldman Sachs forecast last year that the Korean economy would plunge to 19th in the world by 2050, outpaced by developing economies such as Indonesia, Turkey, and the Philippines. It also said China will become the world's largest economy in 2050 with a GDP of $70 trillion. The prediction should serve as a wakeup call for the Korean economy that might lose its chance of joining the ranks of advanced countries forever. It is necessary to take a close look at the rapidly changing global economic landscape. China emerged as the world's third biggest economy last year, while Brazil and Russia advanced to eighth ...