NO REASON WHY MSIA CAN'T BE AMONG TOP 20 COMPETITIVE COUNTRIES, SAYS MUSTAPA

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 (Bernama) -- There is no reason why Malaysia cannot
move up the competitiveness ranking globally to be among the top 20 countries,
International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said Tuesday.

In the latest global competitiveness report 2009-2010, Malaysia is ranked
24th among 133 countries.

The 23 countries that are ahead of Malaysia are mainly developed countries
which include Asian countries such as Singapore (3rd), Japan (8th) and Taiwan
(12th).

"With the launch of the Government Transformation Programme and the New
Economic Model, there would be radical changes to propel the country, to be
among the most competitive globally.

"We are not there yet but we will with all the goals set forth, Malaysia can
be in the top 20s in a couple of years along with productivity enhanced through
innovation and creativity," Mustapa said at the launch of the two-day 52nd Asian
Productivity Organisation (APO) Governing Body Meeting here.

He said future growth for the country must come from higher productivity,
nurtured by more innovative processes as well as supported by strong private
investment and talent.

Among the regional APO member countries, Malaysia's productivity level was
US$12,793, Thailand US$4,596, China US$3,734, Philippines US$3,192, Indonesia
US$2,471 and India US$2,051.

Mustapa said the gap in productivity level between the developed countries
and member countries indicates that there are potential for growth and the
initiiatives by APO will augur well to ensure further development.

"Malaysia will continuously strive to enhance productivity growth through
talent development, adoption of sophisticated technology, higher innovation
capacity and capabilities as well as higher value creation through intensified
research and development," he explained.
-- BERNAMA


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