(Nov 16): Malaysia came in second behind Singapore for the Asean region in the 2015 International Property Rights Index (IPRI), and at 28th place out of 129 countries.

Singapore remains fifth globally and first in the region in the report by the Property Rights Alliance in Washington DC which measures the quality of intellectual and physical property rights protection for economic well-being.

However, Malaysia's overall indicators showed a slight increase compared to Singapore.

Malaysia scored an overall mark of 6.6, while Singapore scored an overall mark of 8.1. Malaysia's marks increased by 0.1 from last year's survey.

Among the categories, Malaysia only saw a slight decrease, 0.1, in the category of judicial independence, and a 0.2 decrease in property rights protection.

Political stability and control of corruption both increased by 0.1 and 0.2 respectively.

Malaysia's highest score is in registering property, where it scored 9.5.

Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Luxembourg are the four top countries in the index, ahead of neighbours Singapore.

IPRI said that there were great economic differences between countries with strong property rights protection regime and those without.

"Nations in the top quintile such as Finland, Norway and New Zealand enjoy an average national GDP per capita of US$44,542 while nations in the second quintile have an average GDP per capita of US$23,786. The third, fourth, and fifth quintile averages are US$11,086, US$3,377 and US$1,880 respectively.

"There is a clear relationship between having high GDP per capita and having strong protection of property rights, indicating that it is important for countries that want to become a high income nation to ensure their rules and laws are geared towards better property rights protection," it said. – The Malaysian Insider