The Malay Mail Online
January 20, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Malaysia has been ranked 35 out of 50 countries in international business school Insead’s global talent competitiveness index (GTCI) for 2014, trailing behind Singapore, which retained its number two spot for a second-year running.

The index placed Switzerland at number one, followed by Singapore and Luxemborg in second and third places, while Australia came in at number nine.

Malaysia scored higher than China, Brazil and Greece, which came in at number 41, 49 and 50 respectively.

The study, produced by Insead along with the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI) and Adecco Group, measures a nation’s competitiveness based on the quality of talent it can produce, attract and retain.

This is the second time Singapore, the only Asian country, was featured in the top ten rankings of the index.

Malaysia moved up two notches from the number 37 spot in GTCI’s 2013 rankings index which continues to be heavily-dominated by European countries.

Commenting on the latest ranking, Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director of Global Indices at Insead pointed out that the top three countries — Switzerland, Singapore and Luxemborg are small but high-income nations, and therefore have no choice but to practice an open and competitive economy.

“Faced with specific geographical challenges and a quasi-absence of natural resources, these countries have had no choice but to be open economies, a critical ingredient to being talent competitive.”

“The top countries on this year’s GTCI have played the game of globalisation and played it well,” he said in a statement.

Lanvin said the other countries within the top 20 category, which includes the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, have “strong immigration traditions” and prioritises sound education policies.

Kwan Chee Wei, CEO of the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI), said most Asian countries lack transparency, empowerment and growth in its economies — key ingredients that were reflected in the results of last year’s GTCI.

“In certain Asian countries, there is a need to see value and worth in both professional and technical vocations.

“Beyond this, traditional hierarchies and bureaucracy in many Asian corporates, often hold back openness, transparency and empowerment – important levers in accelerating talent growth,” Kwan was quoted as saying.

The report pointed out that fiscally stable countries needed talent competitiveness for sustainable development, and that the onus was on mineral or oil-rich countries or those with a specific competitive advantage to foster this to ensure sustainable prosperity.

“Countries must consider employability or risk high unemployment: ‘talent for growth’ means meeting the actual needs of a national economy,” the report said.