Competitiveness between Mexico and Colombia: a comparative analysis with selected indices (2018-2023)

Abstract

Since the second half of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of globalization intensified significantly in the world, causing an expansion in competitiveness in various countries, which constantly seek to generate attractive competitive advantages for international markets
(Zeibote, Volkova and Todorov, 2019). The objective of this research is to compare aspects on competitiveness between Mexico and Colombia, through the use of selected indexes, in the period from 2018 to 2023. This period was taken to have a timely overview of the possible effects of the pandemic. The indexes of international competitiveness, economic freedom, global innovation, logistics performance and maritime connectivity, as well as
the movement of containers, which are prepared annually and biannually by institutions and organizations such as the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), the Heritage Foundation, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), were consulted. The most significant findings are that, between 2021 and 2023, both countries presented slightly similar values in the international competitiveness index, the global innovation index, the logistics performance
index and the maritime connectivity index. During the same period of analysis, Colombia had a better report regarding the economic freedom index, while Mexico presented better results in container movement.