KUALA LUMPUR (June 20): Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz will elaborate on Thursday details of Malaysia's position in the World Competitiveness Ranking released by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD).

According to him, the ministry has received the report, and is in the process of reviewing it to understand various issues related to global trade.

“I will discuss it with the team and all relevant parties, and I will provide a detailed explanation on the matter this evening," he told reporters after the announcement of Malaysia's participation in the World Expo 2025 in Yumeshima island, Osaka, Japan.

Malaysia has slipped by seven places to rank 34th out of 67 countries in the IMD’s World Competitiveness Ranking 2024, after ranking 27th in the index last year.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia slid by four spots to the 10th position out of 14 countries.

Meanwhile, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, who is the spokesperson for the unity government, said that the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) should be given the opportunity to go through the IMD's report.

“We should give space and time to Miti's team to review what has happened (regarding Malaysia's position), because the reality is that this year, Malaysia has seen a high inflow of investments, including in the semiconductor, data centre, and artificial intelligence sectors.

"The Miti minister (Zafrul) has said that he will address this matter...we shall leave it to Miti to provide a comprehensive answer," Fahmi said after officiating the MCMC-Microsoft AI Tech: Skills For AI-Enabled Economy programme here on Thursday.

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