Malaysia up 1 notch to 25th in WEF global competitiveness ranking

Malaysia rose one spot to the 25th place out of 140 countries with a score of 74.4 in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2018 Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) insight report released last week.

Additionally, report published Oct 11 said the country was one of three non-high-income economies feature in the top 40: Malaysia (25th), China (28th), and Thailand (38th).

In terms of macro economic stability, Malaysia ranked first; 24th for institutions, 32nd each for infrastucture and ICT adoption; 15th for financial system and 19th for business dynamism.

The GCR said adaptability and agility of all stakeholders—individuals, governments and businesses—will be key features in successful economies, adding Malaysia ranked 9th among future-ready nations.

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

The GCR pointed out although Malaysia and Belgium have a similar GCI score, Belgium’s median income is three times higher than Malaysia’s.

The report said Malaysia’s results suggest its competitiveness performance, if maintained, will promote higher and sustained levels of income in the future.

Meanwhile, Singapore ranked second (score of 83.5) on the overall rankings behind the United States, as a result of a very strong performance across the board. Singapore features in the top 10 of seven pillars and in the top 20 of a further four.

The GCR said openness is 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.

Source: The Edge Markets