PUTRAJAYA, Aug 17 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that Malaysia’s 14^th spot out of 61 countries in the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking demonstrates the soundness of his government’s policies.

Touting the success of the Special Task Force to Facilitate Business (Pemudah), Najib said the initiative attracted record investments as its strong fundamentals have made Malaysia a preferred destination for investors.

“Despite some naysayers who wish to talk Malaysia down, this is the real story of our economy. Years of record investment. Sound fundamentals. Diversification, reform, sustainability and inclusivity.

“And these credible and influential reports highlighting Malaysia’s attractiveness as a preferred investment destination are testament to the private-public partnership, epitomised by Pemudah, which forms the foundation of Malaysia’s economic growth,” Najib said at the launch of the Pemudah annual report 2014.

Pemudah was launched eight years ago to help smoothen private-public partnership in businesses to make Malaysia more competitive globally.

Malaysia’s economic growth slowed to 4.9 per cent in the previous quarter, the slowest in two years, while the ringgit has lost nearly a fifth of its value against the US dollar since last year.

But Najib maintained today that Putrajaya could overcome the challenges.

“Now, we are beginning the last lap in our journey to become a high income status nation by 2020.

“The challenges grow even larger in a globalised and hyper-connected world..but I am equally confident that we, Malaysians all, are up to this challenge.”