Several Factors Determine Malaysia's Position In World Competitiveness Yearbook

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 11 (Bernama) -- The geopolitical uncertainty, the slow growth of global economy and the decline in key commodity prices are the factors that caused Malaysia’s position in the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY) by the Institute for Management Development to drop from 19th place in 2016 to 24th place this year, the Dewan Rakyat (Malaysian Parliament) was told. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan said despite the drop in the ranking, Malaysia's overall score had increased to 83.53 per cent this year from 83.05 per cent last year. “This increase in the overall score is a significant improvement of the key indicators in the report, such as mobile broadband subscribers, labour productivity, the number of patents and unemployment among youths.” He said this in reply to a Member of Parliament Nga Kor Ming who wanted to know the government's move to reduce people's burden and increase the country's competitiveness in the world, during question time on Thursday. Elaborating further, Abdul Rahman said the country's economic development was not a perfect indicator of the people's prosperity as the government had given more priority to the social aspects of the people. Hence, in order to measure the economic achievement and quality of life of the people, the government has taken the initiative to develop the Malaysian Quality of Life Index (IKHM) since 1999 which contains 10 components and 38 indicators. In 2012, the minister said the IKHM was further strengthened as the Malaysian Wellness Index (IKRM) so that its scopes would be more comprehensive with 14 components and 68 indicators, including transportation, communication, education, health, environment and family. To enhance the country's competitiveness, Abdul Rahman said the government announced productivity as a driver of change in maintaining a sustainable economy by targeting the minimum annual productivity growth of 3.7 per cent in the Malaysian Productivity Blueprint launched last May. -- BERNAMA