Malaysia drops 7 spots in global competitiveness ranking

Malaysia experienced a decline in nearly all factors measured in the latest International Institute for Management Development World Competitiveness Ranking except for infrastructure. (AP pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has fallen seven places to 34th out of 67 countries in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Ranking.

Malaysia also dropped four places to 10th out of 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, marking the first time it has ranked lower than Indonesia and Thailand.

Meanwhile, Singapore reclaimed its position as the world’s most competitive economy, climbing four places from the previous year and topping the index for the first time since 2020, surpassing countries like Switzerland (second) and Denmark (third).

Malaysia experienced a decline in nearly all factors including economic performance, government efficiency, and business efficiency. The only exception was infrastructure, in which it retained its position.

The report also showed that Malaysia dropped 19 spots to 35th in the domestic economy sub-factor and 17 spots to 53rd in productivity and efficiency.

The report listed five challenges for Malaysia, namely increasing investment in research and development to boost business resilience, optimising the labour market to maximise workforce productivity, updating policies and regulations to improve global competitiveness, leveraging advanced technologies to accelerate productivity growth, and mitigating increasing costs through strategic productivity enhancements.

The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking analyses and ranks the capacity of countries to create and maintain an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises.

The current edition ranks 67 economies worldwide, with each economy’s final score calculated using a combination of executive perceptions and statistical data.

Executive perceptions were gathered through a tailored online survey conducted between February and May 2024. Statistical indicators were sourced from international, national, and regional organisations, private institutions, and partner institutes.

Malaysia’s data was provided by the Malaysia Productivity Corporation.

Based on analyses by scholars and the institute’s research and experience, the methodology of the ranking divided the national environment into four main factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure.

Malaysia remained strong in the sub-factors of prices and tax policy, ranking 2nd and 11th respectively, but dropping by one place in each category from last year. Meanwhile, Malaysia fell two places to 10th for basic infrastructure.