Indonesia ranked 32^nd out of 63 economies ranked in the 2019 edition of the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, improving 11 places from last year’s 43^rd position thanks to increased efficiency in government, as well as improvements in infrastructure and business conditions.

Despite the increase, Indonesia was still below its ASEAN peers Thailand (25^th) and Malaysia (22^nd). Singapore toppled the United States, which dropped to third position, to be the most competitive country, while Hong Kong maintained the second place position it held last year.

Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said in Jakarta on Friday that future reforms would also be intended to “reduce imbalances” in Indonesia’s economic activities with other countries. “The government's serious and continued effort is to improve the trade balance,” Darmin told reporters in a press conference on Friday.

Finance Ministry spokesman Nufransa Wira Sakti said the heightening of Indonesia’s position, which represented the biggest jump in the Asia-Pacific region, reflected the positive impacts of various structural reforms undertaken by the government in order to improve Indonesia’s competitiveness.

He added that the government would push forward with its reform agenda. “Going forward, the government will maintain its commitment to structural reform in order to increase productivity and competitiveness,” said Nufransa in a statement.

The ranking, which has been published annually since 1989 by the IMD World Competitiveness Center, combined statistics from each economy with executive opinion surveys. (bbn)

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