By remaining focused on its goal to boost its global competitiveness, Taiwan’s ranking on this front soared from 23rd to 8th place between 2009 and this year, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2010 issued in May.

This is the fastest advance made by any of the 58 economies surveyed for the report.

The credit for this achievement goes to huge improvements in Taiwan’s total score in four core indexes: Economic Performance, up from 27th place to 16th; Government Efficiency, up from 18th to 6th; Business Efficiency, up from 22nd to 3rd; and Infrastructure, up from 23rd to 17th.

The IMD noted that Taiwan’s economy performed exceptionally well during the global economic crisis, and that in addition to the thrust provided by strong demand in Asia the government adopted a series of measures favorable to economic and trade development.

The signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with mainland China, for example, not only helps business to reinforce its confidence but also yields concrete benefits from booming Asian and Chinese demand.

These factors combined to turn the island’s economy into a power horse pushing ahead full throttle to catch up with other competitors in the region.

Such proactive initiatives brought out the vigor and openness of Taiwan’s economic and trade policy, while they enhanced the scores that the IMD gave to the island in terms of government efficiency.

An enabling factor in this regard was the issuance of consumption vouchers in 2009 to ratchet up the pace of its economy and overcome financial turmoil in the wake of the global economic crunch.

As a result of this economic stimulus package, the surge in domestic consumption gave a boost to the market for overseas raw materials and imported consumer goods markets, thereby driving growth in the international trade.

Taiwan stood out in the “Domestic Economy” sub-factor, under “Economic Performance,” advancing 24 places up the ranking, while in the “International Trade” sub-factor it moved up 20 places from 2009.