MALAYSIA IS RANKED NUMBER 1 FOR DOING BUSINESS IN 2019
Posted on 16th July 2019
In a survey published by CEO Magazine measuring best places for doing business in 2019, Malaysia was ranked number one as the best country in the world to invest in or do business for 2019. In the same survey Poland took second place, followed by the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. CEO Magazine stated that being number 1 on the list of among 67 countries surveyed, “Malaysia continues to be the most attractive destination for investors and businesspeople”. It said that the rankings were based on 11 different factors including corruption, freedom (personal, trade, and monetary), workforce, investor protection, infrastructure, taxes, quality of life, red tape, and technological readiness. Each category was equally weighted.
The annual World Bank Doing Business Report has also raised Malaysia from 24th position in 2018 to number 15 in its 2019 release. The Report measures the ease of doing business in countries and scores them on a scale of 100 points. On this scale Malaysia came in fifth in Asia after Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan. Malaysia scored 80.60, marginally behind Taiwan’s score of 80.90. Singapore, Hong Kong and Korea scored 85.24. 84.27 and 84.22, respectively. Nonetheless this indicates that Malaysia is moving into the ranks of other key players in the region.
Meanwhile Malaysia’s Central Bank stated that against the backdrop of a challenging global environment, the Malaysian economy is expected to expand by 4.3% – 4.8% in 2019, or the same rate as in 2018. The Bank sees this growth being primarily being driven by domestic consumption and private sector activity.
These developments are in line with significant improvements in legal and corporate services with new company registrations taking as little as 3 days and on average 7 days to complete. The speed of commercial trials and disposals have also improved dramatically. Based on a recent report in a local daily, 86% of cases filed are dealt with within the 9 months timeline set as a target by the judiciary which is speedier than all other countries in the region. The reason for this is partly due to extensive use of IT in the Courts and the addition of judges from the private sector more familiar with commercial issues. Virtually all court documents are “e-filed” and processed and proceedings in court are recorded with transcripts being made available within days.
RLSE, Corporate Team