Poor education, governance push India to 70th position on WPI

MUMBAI: Quality of secondary education, cost of starting a business and the lack of government effectiveness have led India to rally ahead of many South Asian nations ranking at 70 positon among 104 nations on the World Prosperity Index (WPI) 2008.

"India has a relatively entrepreneurial culture. It requires government effectiveness and tackling corruption," Legatum Institute Managing Director Alan McCormick said.

Increase in capital and education contribute directly to the value of physical and human capital and thus directly increase economic output. Poor governance and excessive bureaucracy impose costs on business and thus restrain growth, the report released last week said.

The Institute also ranks India 10th on its 'Who's Going Places' list, with China on number six.

"These countries have the best context right now within which to create wealth," McCormick said.

Both the economies have recently grown faster than almost any country in the rich world. Being the home of more than two billion people, these improvements in competitiveness have brought about a dramatic lessening of the global wealth gap, a good news for global prosperity, the report said.

"India outstrips many South Asian nations in various aspects of wealth creation. It ranks stronger with reference to other Asian countries in terms of avoiding dependence on commodity exports and foreign aid," McCormick said.