UN report highlights big R&D spenders but points to continuing technology gap
Japan, USA and Germany were the top research and development (R&D) spenders in 1998, according to a new report by the United Nations industrial development organisation (UNIDO). The report compares the years 1985 and 1998, and presents comparative findings. Between 1985 and 1998, Germany fell from its position as top R&D spender, swapping places with Japan, which moved from third to first place. The USA maintained its position in second place, while Switzerland, Sweden and France all improved their positions in the top 10. The report stresses the correlation between research/innovation efforts and competitiveness: 'Indigenous technological effort (proxied by enterprise R&D) appears to be one of the most important factors for improving industrial performance, in industrialized and developing countries alike,' it said. In this context, it notes that developing countries continue to finish low on the R&D spending league table: '[In] the bottom 30 economies...R&D expenditure, technology licence payments and Internet hosts are almost negligible'. Alongside domestic R&D, however, the UNIDO report emphasises that successful economies have also based their performance on foreign direct investment and the supply of labour-intensive products and components. The following countries made the most dramatic leaps in industrial performance between 1985 and 1998: China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Ireland and Egypt.