Complaints by Malaysians are partly to blame for the country dropping seven places in global competitiveness, according to Second Minister of International Trade and Industry (Miti) Ong Ka Chuan.

Ong pointed out that just 30 percent of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2016-2017 was based on quantitative data from the government.

The remaining 70 percent was based on the perception of the locals – in this case, Malaysians, he said, some of whom have grudges against the government.

“In Singapore, they get high marks as their people give good comments to the country.

"I have to say that we have to train our citizens: When it comes to surveys and such, I don't expect everybody to make up a rosy picture, but at least you don't condemn the country, you just speak the truth.

"Just speak the truth without emotion, even if sometimes you don't like the government, don't blame the country… Because when the rating is down, it affects everybody," Ong told a press conference after attending an exhibition on small- and medium-sized enterprises in KLCC.

Malaysia has been ranked 25th out of 138 economies, down from 18th place last year.

The GCR is an annual report published by the WEF, based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which combines 114 indicators that integrate both macro- and micro-economic aspects of competitiveness.

These indicators are grouped into 12 pillars comprising Institutions, Infrastructure, Macro-economic Environment, Health and Primary Education, Higher Education and Training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labour Market Efficiency, Financial Market Development, Technological Readiness, Market Size, Business Sophistication and Innovation.

Among others, Malaysia dropped drastically in "Health and Primary Education", from 24th last year to 44th this year.

WEF's assessment, foreigners also to blame

Ong pointed out that this was partly due to WEF's own assessment system.

"Zika is not in their consideration, but malaria is… If Zika is in, I think Singapore will drop.

"As for primary education, Malaysia actually is very strong. We dropped because they said our enrolment is not 100 percent. There must be miscommunication somewhere," he said.

One of the reasons enrolment has declined may be because parents working overseas sometimes took their children along with them.

Ong said the report also pointed out that cases of tuberculosis had increased last year, despite Malaysians having been injected with the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine in their early years.

"This may be brought in by foreign workers… In Malaysia, there were 99 cases last year but 103 cases this year. This has caused our ranking to drop," he said.

Gov't cannot intervene in Proton

Commenting on Proton's plan to sell off 51 percent of its stake to foreign automobile dealers, Ong said the government cannot intervene as it is a private company.

However, he pointed out that the automobile local market, which sees 600,000 transactions per year on average, is far smaller compared with other countries.

"We have to work with these major players, so we can enter their market and get a share of their research and development, thereby improving our car quality so that we are more competitive in the international market.”

According to a report by Bloomberg, Proton is looking at Volkswagen AG’s Skoda unit and Suzuki Motors Corp, as well as perusing proposals from companies including Renault SA and Peugeot parent PSA Group, in separate closed-door negotiations.