Malaysia rose to the sixth spot in 2015 in terms of the “Baseline Profitability Index” (BPI), which rank destinations of attractiveness for foreign investors.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said on July 13 that the improvement in the country’s ranking was published by the Foreign Policy Magazine, according to The Star newspaper.

The capital city of Kuala Lumpur

Among ASEAN countries, only Malaysia and Singapore featured in the top 10. Indonesia was ranked 12th, Viet Nam (23), the Philippines (30) and Thailand at the 38^th position.

This ranking, which covered 110 countries across six continents reaffirms that Malaysia is an attractive profit centre in this region for investors, the MIDA said.

It said the BPI, introduced by an adjunct professor of New York University’s Stern School of Business since 2013, uses a holistic approach based on eight factors that will affect the ultimate success of a foreign investment.

These factors cover economic growth, financial stability, physical security, corruption, expropriation by government, exploitation by local partners, capital controls, and exchange rates.

MIDA chief executive officer Datuk Azman Mahmud said the index sends a clear message that Malaysia provides a friendly business environment that makes it an attractive place to invest. This ranking is based not only on historical conditions but also on expectations about conditions prevailing over the next five years.

The ranking is a reflection of the continuous improvement in the delivery of public services and overall efficiency of the government machinery, he added.

Azman said Malaysia has exceeded the average annual investment target of 148billion RM set in the 10th Malaysia Plan with a growth rate of 12.6 percent per annum.

Malaysia had consistently registered a double-digit growth of gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) since 2010. In the first quarter of this year, the GFCF increased 13.6 percent to 51.5 billion RM from 45.3 billion RM a year ago.

(Source: VNA)