TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan was ranked 16th in the world this year for talent competitiveness by the Swiss business management school, the Institute for Management Development (IMD).

In IMD's World Talent Ranking, Taiwan rose to No. 16 out of 64 major countries in the world with a score of 74 out of 100. This marked an improvement of four spots from its ranking of 20th last year and its highest ranking in 10 years.

Taiwan ranks third in East Asia, trailing only Hong Kong and Singapore, which came in 11th and 12th. Taiwan ranked higher than South Korea, China, and Japan, which lagged behind at 34th, 36th, and 39th.

Taiwan’s rankings in the three categories of "Investment and Development," "Appeal," and "Readiness" all improved compared with last year with improvements of five, four, and six places, respectively. According to a statement by the National Development Council, this ranking showed that despite the pandemic, Taiwan was able to "actively maintain the stability of the labor market, continue to cultivate domestic talents, and strengthen the ability to attract overseas talents."

In the category of Investment and Development, for which it received an overall score of 20th, Taiwan ranked fifth for employee training, seventh for apprenticeships, and eighth for health infrastructure. In the Appeal section, in which it received an overall score of 22nd, Taiwan was ranked fifth for worker motivation.

In the Readiness factor, garnered an overall ranking of ninth, with rankings of fifth in graduates in sciences and eighth in educational assessment.