Thailand has moved up five spots to assume 25th place in this year's World Competitiveness Rankings, which rated 63 economies for their economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure development.
According to the latest report by the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Thailand came third in Asean, trailing behind Singapore and Malaysia.
Thailand's ranking is higher than South Korea, which moved down one position to 28th place this year, and Japan, which came in at 30th place, or five notches down from last year.
The better ranking was largely thanks to Thailand's improved economic performance, government efficiency, and infrastructure.
That said, the country's business efficiency ranking fell when compared to last year's ranking, the report noted.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said that he is pleased by Thailand's achievement, before adding that the improved ranking was mainly driven by increased cooperation between the government and the private sector to improve the efficiency of the investment environment, as well as higher spending on research and development activities.
