KUALA LUMPUR: The World Economic Forum (WEF) has ranked Malaysia as the 24th most competitive nation among 148 countries in its Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2013-2014.

Last year, Malaysia was ranked 25th out of 144 countries, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said in a statement.

He said Malaysia remained the second most competitive among Asean and has improved to seventh position among 25 Asia-Pacific countries. Countries ranked as the 10 most competitive economies share strengths in innovation and a strong institutional framework, Mustapa said.

The GCR uses 70% perception data obtained through the executive opinion survey from high level private sector executives and 30% statistical data. It comprises 114 criteria which are organised into 12 pillars of competitiveness.

The GCR categorises countries into three stages of development; factor-driven, efficiency-driven and innovation-driven based on the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Malaysia is categorised as a country in transition moving from the efficiency-driven to innovation-driven economy.

The WEF assessed that Malaysia’s most notable advantages were in its efficient and competitive market for goods and services (10th), its well-developed and sound financial market (sixth) and its business-friendly institutional framework (29th).

This performance is supported by indicators that include a number of procedures to start a business, where Malaysia was ranked 10th and total tax rate, which improved by 30 places (20th).

Malaysia also maintains its sixth position in the financial market development pillar, which has been one of Malaysia’s strongest areas with consistent performance in the past few years.

Among the criteria that contributed to this pillar was the ease of access to loans (fifth) and venture capital availability (seventh), said Mustapa.

– BERNAMA