KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia ranked 30th out of 125 countries in the International Property Rights Index (IPRI) 2024 report released by the Property Rights Alliance, a slight improvement when compared to the 31st position recorded last year.
Centre for Market Education (CME), the Malaysian partner for the Property Rights Alliance, said Malaysia remained stable in the seventh position at the regional level.
In a statement, it said the report showed that high-income countries consistently demonstrate the strongest protection for property rights, while lower-middle-income countries often impose significant restrictions on foreign ownership of intellectual property and investments.
This disparity highlights the critical role of property rights in fostering economic growth, it said.
The top five countries for property rights in the 2024 IPRI are Finland (8.1), Singapore (7.94), Denmark (7.774), the Netherlands (7.773), and New Zealand (7.66).
"These countries exemplify how strong legal frameworks enhance economic resilience and competitiveness," read the statement.
The bottom five countries are Venezuela (1.9), Yemen (2.4), Haiti (2.6), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (3.0), and Chad (3.0).
These countries face significant challenges, such as political instability and weak legal systems, which undermine property rights and limit economic opportunities.
Malaysia's overall score stood at 6.191, showing a slight improvement when compared to 2023 (6.174).
While Malaysia scored well for the protection of physical (6.533, 27th in the world) and intellectual property rights (6.546, 26th in the world), the legal and political environment remained weak, with a score of 5.492 and Malaysia ranked only 45th out of 125 countries globally.
Among the different components contributing to the legal and political environment, Malaysia scored relatively well in terms of the rule of law (6.124, 38th global rank), but the other components showed fragility, despite a slight improvement when compared to 2023.
The score for judicial independence was just 5.065 (46th global rank), while political stability stood at 5.281 (49th global rank) and control of corruption at 5.498 (43rd global rank).
Property Rights Alliance executive director and the editor of the Index, Lorenzo Montanari said these frameworks also offer investors the security necessary to support new ventures, driving innovation and economic progress.
"As the world faces ongoing economic challenges, strengthening physical and intellectual property rights is crucial for recovery and growth.
"Robust legal and political frameworks protect inventors' assets and encourage creators to innovate, leading to improved and safer products."
On the home front, CME chief executive officer Dr Carmelo Ferlito stressed the need for Malaysia to work to regain the lost positions.
He said the primary focus should be to re-establish a stronger environment for the protection of physical property rights, keeping in mind that in 2015 and 2016 Malaysia ranked 8th globally in this sub-index.
"Instead, the country fell to 22nd in 2017 and ranked up again to 19th in 2021, but later on it kept going down (27th in 2024)," he said.
While protecting physical property rights requires regaining strength, Malaysia has consistently faced weaknesses in its legal and political environment, Ferlito said.
"Therefore, it is essential to focus on enhancing political stability and judicial independence," he said.
The report is available at https://24.internationalpropertyrightsindex.org/