According to a new index (Change Readiness Index) that provides insight into which countries are better able to manage and mitigate the risks associated with change and capitalize on the new resulting opportunities, it looks like Nepal is ranked (overall) 50 out of 60 countries, meaning that it is well below the average in terms of its readiness to cope with change. Lower rank means better readiness for change.
Specifically, the ranking in economic sub-index (relating to economic policies and frameworks), governance sub-index (relating to the capacity of government and the institutional arrangements that have been established) and social sub-index (relating to the characteristics of a society, such as literacy, social support networks and civil society) is 50, 38, and 57 respectively.
The top five countries in the CRI are Chile, Tunisia, Taiwan, Jordan and Kazakhstan. The bottom five countries are Venezuela, Honduras, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Bolivia. In South Asia, Sri Lanak is ranked at 22, followed by India at 23, Bangladesh at 45, Nepal at 50 and Pakistan at 54.
Change Readiness Index (CRI) captures government capability and the capability of a country as a whole - including the private sector and civil society - to manage and respond effectively to change. The Index combines data from a number of existing indicators with new measures that have been identified to capture specific elements of change readiness that are not currently being captured, including risk management capabilities, efforts to promote economic diversification, strong governance, and social safety nets. The study also considered the impact of recent food, fuel, and financial crises on countries around the world to asses country’s change readiness. The assumption is that a country’s capability for managing change might be an important factor in supporting sustained growth in the long term.
Dimensions of capability to manage change:
Economic capabilities
- Macro framework
- Investment climate
- Economic openness
- Labor markets
- Economic diversification
Governance capabilities
- Public administration
- Financial regulation
- Risk management
- State business relations
Social capabilities
- Entrepreneurship
- Safety nets
- ICT and innovation
- Human capital
- Civil society
While the report gives a sense of a country’s capabilities to cope with change and exploit the resulting opportunities, it also states that “when assessing growth prospects, this data must be viewed in combination with other information on issues that will affect economic prospects such as political stability, sovereign debt, sustainability or endowments of capital, labor and natural resources”.
