MALAYSIA has fallen seven places to 34th out of 67 countries in the International Institute for Management Development’s (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.
Singapore, on the other hand, has regained its status as the world’s most competitive economy, climbing four places from the previous year to surpass Switzerland in second place, followed by Denmark in the third spot.
The survey was conducted between March and May 2024 among 6,612 C-level and mid-level managers from 67 economies.
The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking evaluates the ability of countries to create and sustain an environment conducive to the competitiveness of enterprises.
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.
At a macro level, Malaysia ranked high in terms of prices (second), basic infrastructure (10th) and tax policy (11th).
However, it was less competitive in the areas of education (44th), business legislation (50th), and productivity and efficiency (53rd).
The report identified five key challenges for Malaysia: increasing investment in research and development to enhance business resilience, optimising the labour market to boost workforce productivity, updating policies and regulations to improve global competitiveness, leveraging advanced technologies to accelerate productivity growth and mitigating rising costs through strategic productivity enhancements.
For Malaysia, the data was supplied by the Malaysia Productivity Corporation.
The current edition ranks 67 economies worldwide, with each economy’s final score calculated using a combination of executive perceptions and statistical data.
The ranking methodology divided the national environment into four main factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure. – June 18, 2024
