KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia slipped one rung to 15th spot in the world competitiveness ranking but scored high marks in low unemployment and encouraging gross domestic product growth rate.
IMD, a top-ranked global business school based in Switzerland, said Malaysia's ranking was now ahead of countries such as Australia, Britain, South Korea, China and Japan.
"Malaysia registered significant improvements in the economic performance which increased from 10th to 7th position and in the business efficiency to 4th place from 6th last year," said an IMD statement released in conjunction with its 25th anniversary world competitiveness rankings.
The business school assessed countries according to four main competitiveness factors namely economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure to measure how well countries manage their economic and human resources to increase their prosperity.
Malaysia recorded 1.7 per cent of the consumer price inflation in 2012, as measured by the consumer price index which reflected the annual percentage change in the cost to the average consumer of acquiring a basket of goods and services that may be fixed or changed at specified intervals.
IMD World Competitiveness Centre director Professor Stephane Garelli said the United States regained the first place in 2013 due to a rebounding financial sector, an abundance of technological innovation and successful companies.
"China and Japan are also increasing their competitiveness.
Report: The Star
