MALAYSIA CLIMBS TO 25th IN WORLD COMPETITIVENESS RANKING

Malaysia is one of three non-highincome economies featured in the top 40

MALAYSIA rose one spot to 25th, out of 140 countries, with a score of 74.4 in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2018 Global Competitiveness Report.

The report, published on Oct 11, said Malaysia was one of three non-high-income economies featured in the top 40. The other two were China (28th) and Thailand (38th).

In terms of macro economic stability, Malaysia came up tops. The country was 24th for institutions, 32nd for infrastructure and information communication technology adoption respectively, 15th for financial system and 19th for business dynamism.

The report revealed that adaptability of stakeholders — individuals, governments and businesses — was key to successful economies. It added that Malaysia was ranked ninth among future-ready nations.

WEF said the relationship between future-preparedness and income level was positive but extremely loose, with Malaysia scoring significantly higher than Greece, Italy and Belgium.

It said that although Malaysia and Belgium had a similar Global Competitiveness Index (CGI) score, Belgium’s median income was three times higher than that of Malaysia.

The report said Malaysia’s competitiveness, if maintained, would promote higher and sustained levels of income.

Singapore ranked second with a score of 83.5 on the overall rankings, behind the United States, thanks to very strong performance across the board.

Singapore featured in the top 10 of seven pillars and in the top 20 of a further four.

The report said openness was the defining feature of this global trading hub and one of the main drivers of its economic success. Singapore leads the infrastructure pillar with a near-perfect score of 95.7.

WEF has been measuring competitiveness among countries since 1979.

It stressed that competitiveness was not a zerosum game between countries because it was achievable by all.

The annual report measures national competitiveness, which is defined as “the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity”.

The annual study uses 70 per cent survey data from the United Nations and 30 per cent data from 137 countries, and tracks the performance of the 137 countries on 12 pillars of competitiveness via the GCI.

It added that Malaysia was ranked ninth among futureready nations.