Malaysia moves up in global competitiveness ranking

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has moved up two spots in terms of global competitiveness, ranking 18th and ahead of countries like France and Australia.

According to the Global Competitive­ness Report 2015-2016, Malaysia is placed among the world’s top 20 most competitive economies and is ranked the highest among developing countries in Asia.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said this was the country’s highest ranking since 2005, proving the effectiveness of the Government Transformation Programme and the Economic Transfor­mation Programme.

However, he reminded Malaysians that there was “no room for complacency”, urging them not to “rest on their laurels”.

“In an increasingly complex global economic arena, Malaysia as one of the most trade-dependent and open economies in the world has to be extra vigilant given the very volatile nature of global markets,” Mustapa said.

Malaysia’s strengths, according to the report, was in its market efficiency and financial market development, ranked 6th and 9th respectively.

Categories that showed notable improvements included macroeconomic stability (ranked 35th, up by nine spots), higher education and training (ranked 36th, up by 10 spots) and technology readiness (ranked 47th, up by 13 spots).

The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 is published by the World Economic Forum and measures the ability of over 140 countries to provide quality of life to their citizens.

Countries are measured based on 114 criteria, which are organised into 12 pillars.

Switzerland, Singapore and United States were the top three countries listed in the report.

Malaysia was one spot behind the United Arab Emirates.