Malaysia up one notch to 24 on WEF global competitiveness list

by **Cals** Fri 06 Sep 2013, 16:10

Malaysia up one notch to 24 on WEF global competitiveness list
Business & Markets 2013
Written by theedgemalaysia.com
Friday, 06 September 2013 15:22

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 6): Malaysia advanced one position to rank 24 on the World Economic Forum’s The Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014 that was released on Sept 4.
Second among Asean countries, behind Singapore, Malaysia ranks no lower than 51st in any of the 12 pillars of the GCI and features in the top 10 of two of them, according to the report.
According to the report, Malaysia’s most notable advantages were its efficient and competitive market for goods and services (10th), its well-developed and sound financial market (6th), and its business-friendly institutional framework (29th).
It said that in a region plagued by corruption and red tape, Malaysia stands out as one of the very few countries that have been relatively successful at tackling these two issues, as part of its economic and government transformation programs.
The country, for instance, ranks an impressive 8th for the burden of government regulation, although the score differential with the leader, Singapore, remains large.
The report said Malaysia ranks a satisfactory 33rd in the ethics and corruption component of the Index, but room for improvement remains.
Furthermore, Malaysia ranks 15th for the quality of its transport infrastructure, a remarkable feat in this part of the world, where insufficient infrastructure and poor connectivity are major obstacles to development for many countries.
Finally, Malaysia’s private sector is highly sophisticated (20th) and already fairly innovative (25th).
All this bodes well for a country that aims to become a high-income, knowledge-based economy by the end of the decade.
Amid this largely positive assessment, the government budget deficit, which represented 4.3 percent of GDP in 2012 (103rd); the low level of female participation in the workforce (121st); and the still comparatively low technological readiness (51st) stand out as some of Malaysia’s major competitive weaknesses.