The IPRI measures the strength of physical and intellectual property rights in different nations as well as the legal and political environment containing them, with 129 countries included in the index.

It scores countries on three core components, namely intellectual property rights, physical property rights, and legal and political environment.

Physical properties in this index refer to firms and companies apart from commercial or private buildings and vehicles.

The Center for Market Education (CME), which partnered with the Property Rights Alliance in the US for the analysis on Malaysia, said the nation ranked 8th in Asia and 7th in Southeast Asia.

There was a 0.39 decline in the IPRI score to 6.3 compared to 6.6 last year, which CME attributed to slight political instability and worsened processes for the registration of physical properties.

It said the latter included the incorporation of a company.

In terms of legal and political environment, Malaysia ranked 41st globally due to a “very low rank in political stability, as well as a low rank in control of corruption and rule of law”.

CME’s CEO, Carmelo Ferlito, said it was good to see Malaysia retain its global ranking, but maintained the decrease in its score was something that Putrajaya needed to consider.

“In particular, political stability, control of corruption, and the difficulties in registering properties are elements that policy makers need to take into account.

“Property rights are human rights. Strong frameworks for property rights preserve human dignity, innovation and freedom while protecting against abuses of government power,” he said.

Carmelo also noted that the slight decrease in Malaysia’s regional ranking was a sign that its neighbours were working on improving this aspect.