Government to find ways to offset drop in competitiveness ranking

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will identify the reasons why Malaysia suffered a drop in the global competitive ranking this year and find solutions to offset the situation.

International Trade and Industry Minister II Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said the drop was not disastrous and Malaysia could head back to the top 20 again in the next few years.

“Next Friday, we will hold an inter-departmental meeting to discuss the matter,” he told reporters after the launch of the Small and Medium Enterprise Solutions Expo 2016 here yesterday.

On Wednesday, the World Economic Forum released its annual Global Competitive Report (GCR) 2016-2017 which saw Malaysia slip seven places to 25th out of 138 economies, from 18th (out of 140 economies) last year.

“Each country has its own challenges, so has Malaysia. Nothing to be ashamed of,” he said.

Ong expressed confidence that the GCR result would not cause a big drop in foreign investment inflows into the country.

“I believe that investors, when they study and analyse the GCR report, will find out that there are no drastic changes in the Malaysian investment environment,” he said.

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agree­ment, he said Malaysia remained firm on its implementation despite uncertainties brought about by the upcoming US presidential election.

“We have assured Japan that we will stand firm on the free-trade agreement. The Govern­ment’s stand remains the same. We want it to be enforced in 2018. There will be no renego­tiation,” he said. — Bernama