Malaysia has climbed another three spots from 15th to 12th in world rankings of competitive economies.
The Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014 showed that Malaysia is the 12th most competitive country, ahead of Britain (16), Australia (17), New Zealand (20), Japan (21) and China (23).
The survey assessed countries according to economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. It measured how well countries managed economic and human resources to raise their prosperity. Sixty countries were surveyed.
The rankings released by IMD took into account more than 300 criteria, two-thirds of which are based on statistical indicators and one-third on an exclusive IMD survey of 4,300 international executives. Among the challenges that Malaysia will face this year are to enhance growth enablers for sustainable economic development, harness talent to achieve higher productivity growth, and to intensify efforts to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and restrictions.
The country would also face challenges in trying to curb higher inflation as a result of subsidy rationalisation and ways to strengthen technological capabilities to enhance value creation, said the report. “In Asia, both Malaysia and Indonesia (at No. 37) make gains, while Thailand (29) falls amid political uncertainty,” said IMD World Competitiveness Centre director Prof Arturo Bris.
The United States retained its No. 1 spot, followed by Switzerland and Singapore, which came 5th on the previous year. Yesterday, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the Government was committed to implementing sustainable economic policies as opposed to short-term populist short-cuts that would have negative consequences.
“The right decisions are not necessarily popular. We expect to see a much better performance in the next three to five years as more of our initiatives began to bear fruit,” he said in response to Malaysia’s latest rankings.
Malaysia Productivity Corporation director-general Datuk Mohd Razali Hussain said the improvement in various areas showed that the country was moving towards the right direction.
The Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014 showed that Malaysia is the 12th most competitive country, ahead of Britain (16), Australia (17), New Zealand (20), Japan (21) and China (23).
The survey assessed countries according to economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. It measured how well countries managed economic and human resources to raise their prosperity. Sixty countries were surveyed.
The rankings released by IMD took into account more than 300 criteria, two-thirds of which are based on statistical indicators and one-third on an exclusive IMD survey of 4,300 international executives. Among the challenges that Malaysia will face this year are to enhance growth enablers for sustainable economic development, harness talent to achieve higher productivity growth, and to intensify efforts to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and restrictions.
The country would also face challenges in trying to curb higher inflation as a result of subsidy rationalisation and ways to strengthen technological capabilities to enhance value creation, said the report. “In Asia, both Malaysia and Indonesia (at No. 37) make gains, while Thailand (29) falls amid political uncertainty,” said IMD World Competitiveness Centre director Prof Arturo Bris.
The United States retained its No. 1 spot, followed by Switzerland and Singapore, which came 5th on the previous year. Yesterday, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the Government was committed to implementing sustainable economic policies as opposed to short-term populist short-cuts that would have negative consequences.
“The right decisions are not necessarily popular. We expect to see a much better performance in the next three to five years as more of our initiatives began to bear fruit,” he said in response to Malaysia’s latest rankings.
