Bangladesh least talent-competitive in Central, S Asia
Poor performance in attracting and nurturing talent has placed Bangladesh at the bottom of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2023 among the Central and South Asian countries for the fourth consecutive time.
The country has occupied the 123rd position out of 134 countries evaluated in the GTCI this year.
The tenth edition of the index was released on Tuesday by French business school INSEAD in partnership with the Descartes Institute for the Future and the Human Capital Leadership Institute.
Bangladesh scored only 24.91 out of 100, significantly lower than the global average score of 47.8.
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In the past five years, Bangladesh's ranking in the index has been consistently low.
Last year, it was 122nd out of 133 with a score of 22.85. In 2021, it occupied the 123rd spot among 134 nations, and in 2020, it was 124th among 132. In 2019, it was 118th out of 125, and in 2018, it was 114th out of 119.
Uzbekistan emerged as the most talent-competitive country in Central and South Asia in the latest report, securing the 62nd position with a score of 44.97, surpassing Kazakhstan, which ranked 67th.
Following these, Kyrgyzstan stood at 86th, Sri Lanka at 90th, India at 103rd, and Nepal at 107th. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, Iran (116th), and Pakistan (109th) were positioned at the bottom three spots in the region.
Top 39 countries from high-income group
Switzerland, Singapore, and the United States maintain their positions as the top three talent-competitive countries globally in 2023. Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Australia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom round out the top 10.
European countries continue to dominate the top 25, with 17 represented. Beyond Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, and Israel join the top 25. The UAE climbed from 25th to 22nd, while Japan dropped out, replaced by South Korea (24th).
A significant highlight of the index is that over the past decade the top ten countries have largely remained the same. Remarkably, eight of the top ten countries this year were also in the inaugural top ten in 2013.
On a global scale, the lowest-ranking country in the 2023 index is Chad, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Angola.
The Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) operates as an input-output model, amalgamating an evaluation of countries' efforts in producing and attracting talent (input) with the resulting skillset available to them (output).
The index is built upon six pillars –enabling talent, attracting talent, nurturing talent, retaining talent, providing vocational and technical skills, and fostering global knowledge skills.
How Bangladesh performed on the six pillars
Bangladesh's ranking in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index displayed improvements in three key areas: enabling talent, retaining talent, and global knowledge skills, compared to the previous year. However, the country's performance declined in attracting talent, growing talent, as well as vocational and technical skills.
Bangladesh's scores and global rankings on the six pillars were 28.67 and 117th on enabling talent, 27.05 and 131st on attracting talent, 17.80 and 124th on growing talent, 34.27 and 109th on retaining talent, 29.89 and 113th on vocational and technical skills and, 11.75 and 109th on global knowledge skills.
