Tengku Zafrul said his ministry has received the report and is reviewing it to understand the issues related to global trade, Bernama reported.

“I will discuss it with the team and all relevant parties, and I will provide a detailed explanation of the matter this evening,” he was quoted as saying.

Malaysia’s ranking dropped seven places to 34th out of 67 countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, which was released on Tuesday.

It also fell four places to 10th out of 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, marking the first time it has ranked below Indonesia and Thailand.

In a statement today, Muda had called on the government to promptly explain the country’s decline in ranking.

The party also questioned the lack of an official response from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his government within 24 hours of the ranking’s release.

“If the prime minister cannot provide answers, Muda suggests that the responsible minister should clarify,” it said.

Muda also asked whether former finance minister Lim Guan Eng would issue a statement as he had when Malaysia fell from 25th spot to 32nd in the 2022 edition.

Lim had described the drop of seven places as a “clear warning” that then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration had failed.

He said the decline in Malaysia’s competitiveness “reinforces the need to heed warnings of the lack of governance, competency, certainty, consistency and clarity to replace prevailing policy complacency, confusion and flip-flops”.