He said the Cabinet discussed the matter yesterday and had identified the government’s strengths and weaknesses based on IMD’s report.

“Everyone will work faster and more efficiently to improve (Malaysia’s ranking),” he told reporters after the launch of Asia’s first ESG Positive Impact Consortium today.

Anwar said the ranking was made based on information from 2022, and some improvements have been made since.

He said a major issue was the government’s failure to implement targeted subsidies, “but we have since corrected that”.

The ringgit has also strengthened in the first quarter of 2024 compared to then, he said.

Earlier, investment, trade and industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said the weakened ringgit and over-expenditure by the government are among the factors that contributed to Malaysia’s drop in the World Competitiveness Ranking.

He said the weak ringgit had affected many other aspects taken into account by the IMD index, including productivity and efficiency.

Tengku Zafrul said the government had exceeded its budget last year, pinning the blame on the economic effects of the Ukraine-Russia war.

He also said a decline in exports in the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector had affected Malaysia’s competitiveness, and added that this slowdown was linked to a drop in global trade.

Last year, Malaysia ranked 27th out of 67 countries in the competitiveness index. This year’s rankings saw Malaysia slip seven places.

Malaysia also fell to 10th out of 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, ranking lower than Indonesia and Thailand for the first time.