Malaysia moves forward in IMD's competitive rankings
Malaysia has emerged as the world's 10th most competitive nation in 2010, a significant improvement from its 18th position
last year. The upward shift was as a result of notable improvements in the country's economic performance, due to a host of
factors such as influx of quality investments, pragmatic government policies and low risk to political instability.
With an index score of 87,228, Malaysia has joined the ranks of the most competitive countries in the world, sharing the Top
10 rankings with Singapore, Hong Kong, the US, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Taiwan and Norway.
In both the government and business efficiency ratings, Malaysia's performance is now ahead of developed countries like Luxembourg,
Switzerland, Canada, Denmark and Sweden.
The list measures Malaysia against 58 countries this year, compared with 57 nations last year.
The International Institute for Management Development (IMD), based in Lausanne, Switzerland, in its World Competitiveness
Yearbook 2010, noted many positive attributes about the country. Among Malaysia's plus points were the effective implementation
of government policies, and the competent leadership of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
IMD was also commendable of the Malaysian Government's response to economic challenges, an apparent reference to the two stimulus
package amounting to RM67 billion, unveiled by the Prime Minister, who is also Finance Minister. These measures were aimed
at mitigating the adverse effects on the economy as a result of the global economic downturn emanating from the US subprime
credit crisis.
The unveiling of the New Economic Model (NEM), aimed at transforming the nation into a high-income economy, continues to sustain
Malaysia on the right path towards attaining the status of developed nation by 2020.
The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) is the world's most renowned and comprehensive annual report on the competitiveness
of nations, rankings and analyses how a nation's environment creates and sustains the competitiveness of business enterprises.
Malaysia was also ranked highly for its strong resilience of the economy during economic downturns, sufficient transparency
among financial institutions and government bureaucracy not being a hindrance to business activity as evident from the rapid
expansion in the economy over the last one year.
The report stated that, among Malaysia's strengths, which propelled it to the top ten was its economic diversification and
exchange rate. For current account balance, the country was ranked second and third for exports of goods.
The competitive cost of capital, which encourages business development, the ageing society not being a burden for economic
development and unemployment legislation providing an incentive to look for work are among the positive aspects of the country's
economy.
IMD also noted that corporate employers in Malaysia could tap on the availability and ability of competent senior managers
in the country and corporate boards that supervise the management of companies efficiently, while entrepreneurship of managers
was widespread in business.
Malaysia also continued to intensify life-long learning and nurture a talented workforce, while it also enhanced productivity and competitiveness through creative and innovative mindsets.
The IMD report also mentioned the transparency of government policies was satisfactory, having improved from 3.94 per cent
to 5.98 per cent, while protectionism was not a factor in Malaysia's economy as it did not impede the conduct of business
operations.
Malaysia good ranking was also due to policies undertaken to ensure that small-and medium-scale enterprises are geared-up
for global competition.
After succumbing to the global economic crisis, that resulted in a 1.7 per cent contraction in the economy in 2009, Malaysia's
economy bounced back, exceptionally well, to record a 10.1 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2010.
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