KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 — Inefficient civil servants and corruption were businesses' biggest bugbears about Malaysia, according to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2013-2014 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) today

In its survey, 14.7 per cent of respondents named red tape as the biggest obstacle to doing business in Malaysia, with corruption just a hair behind at 14.4 per cent.

Of greater concern, however, is that survey results show that respondents view both problems as worsening. In last year's edition, 13.8 per cent of respondents listed inefficient bureaucracy as an issue while 12.7 per cent complained of graft.

"In a region plagued by corruption and red tape, Malaysia stands out as one of the very few countries that have been relatively successful at tackling these two issues, as part of its economic and government transformation programmes," said WEF in the report.

"Malaysia ranks a satisfactory 33rd in the ethics and corruption component of the Index, but room for improvement remains."

Malaysia’s bureaucracy is powered by some 1.3 million workers, among the highest in the region.

In its report, the WEF ranked Malaysia the 24th most competitive nation among 148 countries in the GCR, up one spot from the 25th previously.

It also maintained its second position among other ASEAN countries.

The country also scored well on several indicators, which contributed to the competitive ranking, placing 20th in "public trust in politicians" -- where the respondents rate the ethical standards of politicians -- with 4.3 points out of 7.

Singapore was ranked first with 6.2 points.

Malaysia came in at 21st in "wastefulness of government spending" (4.3), and 8th in "burden of government regulation" (4.6) and "transparency of government policymaking" (5.0).

However, Malaysia was placed further down for "diversion of public funds" at 42nd (4.2), which rated respondents belief that public funds are diverted to companies, individuals or groups due to corruption.

Other lower ranks included "irregular payments and bribes" at 44th (4.7), and "judicial independence" also at 44th (4.5).

Respondents also expressed their dissatisfaction over Malaysia's crime enforcement, ranking Malaysia 42nd in "reliability of police services" (4.9) and 63rd (5.2) in "organised crime" -- which measures the extent to which organised crime imposes costs on business.

Malaysia has long sought to root out corruption, listing it as one of the National Key Results Area (NKRA) in the Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

Critics, especially from the opposition, however have pointed out the inefficacy of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Attorney-General which they claim is powerless in handling graft cases.

In July, civil servants were also listed as the third-most corrupt, according to local respondents to global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer survey.

Police and political parties came in first and second, respectively.