Malaysia’s decline in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Rankings 2024 is due to the weakness of the ringgit last year, according to Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

He explained that based on the ministry’s preliminary study, the primary reason for the country’s drop in the index from the 27th place in 2023 to the 34th spot in 2024 was the reliance on 2023 data to measure national competitiveness.