Jakarta, May 22, 2010 - Indonesia jumped ahead of seven countries to place 35th in an annual survey of the world's most competitive economies that is conducted by the IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The country was ranked 42nd by the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook in 2009.

Other Southeast Asian countries had also advanced in the ranking, after reaping the benefits of continued strong demand in Asia and implementation of efficient government policies.

Malaysia advanced to 10th place from 18th and the Philippines rose to 39th from 43th place from last year.

The survey ranked 58 countries according to 328 criteria that measured how nations created and maintained conditions favorable to business.

The rankings were strongly affected by unusual volatility in economic growth, exchange rates, financial assets, trade and investment flows amid the global financial crisis in 2009, according to the report.

The survey's methodology had favored the US for the last 16 years. However, for the first time the survey ranked the US behind Singapore and Hong Kong. High levels of unemployment and debt and continued market instability had contributed to the US' slip, said the report.

"*The countries* were so close in the rankings that it would probably better to define them as a leading trio," said Stephane Garelli, professor at the Lausanne.

However, the US was ranked ahead of countries in Europe and elsewhere as a nation that was better able to attract new investment and help companies grow, he said.

"US has weathered the risk of the financial and economic crises thanks to the sheer size of its economy, a stronger leadership in business and an unmatched supremacy in technology," Garelli said.

China was ranked 18th. The country's continued rise demonstrates that it is no longer dependent on foreign markets to buy its exports. China led other emerging economies, such as India (31st), Brazil (38th) and Russia (51st).

While the economies of China and Indonesia were not in recession in 2009, other emerging countries, such as Brazil and Russia, suffered from a drop in commodity prices, according to the report.

Debt-laden Greece improved its ranking and rose six places to 46th, while Venezuela was ranked last by the survey for the fifth year in a row.

Indonesia's economy grew 4.5 percent in 2009, while household consumption remained strong. The Indonesian government estimated that the economy would grow 5.8 percent in 2010 based on strong trade and investment.

Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar told The Jakarta Post that the new ranking showed that Indonesia was resilient throughout the global financial crisis and that its economic foundations were more solid than had been predicted.

"We are financial stabile," he said.

However Indonesia still faced a large challenge to improve its infrastructure, which was one of the criteria used to measure the competitiveness.

"If we could have improved infrastructure, we might have had a bigger jump," Mahendra said.

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