Of the 123 countries ranked in the Trade and Development Index (TDI) 2006 by the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD), India has secured 86th position, right after Algeria, Tanzania and Botswana but hearteningly it is higher than Bangladesh (102) and Pakistan (103).The TDI, first released in 2005, indicates how well trade and development are integrated in a country. It takes into account economic, social and institutional factors like human capital, physical infrastructure, trade performance to determine the extent of contribution of trade to overall development in a country. USA ranks number one, followed by Germany, Denmark, UK and Singapore. Five developing countries that rank among the top 30 include Singapore (5), Korea (21), China (25), Malaysia (27) and Thailand (29). Region-wise analysis shows that sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are at par and lag substantially behind other regions, while Western Europe and North America are the top performers. India’s TDI score is 433, substantially lower than the score of 509 for the group of seven emerging economies (China, India, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, Mexico and South Africa) of which it is a part. India’s economic and social well-being indicator scores are also among the lowest at 187, which is lower than sub-Saharan Africa’s average of 218.Such low scores are primarily due to poor performance in areas such as human capital, institutional quality, domestic finance, environmental sustainability, openness to trade and access to foreign markets. But India performs well in areas such as physical infrastructure, economic structure and macroeconomic stability. But there is a reason to cheer. According to the report, “China and India have become important players in the world economy following two decades of impressive growth in their respective economies and trade levels. China now holds 25th place in the TDI ranking. India, on the other hand, started its economic reforms in the early 1990s and has a long way to go to catch up with China in TDI. Its relatively lower rank of 86 reflects both the problems which it must still confront and its still unrealised potential.”
