Channel NewsAsia article - Singapore the second most 'up-and-coming' country globally: Survey

The Republic was also named the most forward-looking country out of 60 countries in the 2016 Best Countries rankings. 

Posted 21 Jan 2016 14:19

SINGAPORE: In a global survey of more than 16,000 people, Singapore was named the second most "up-and-coming" economy among 60 countries, after top-ranked India and ahead of China in third.

This was one of the findings of the 2016 Best Countries rankings, produced by the US News & World Report in collaboration with brand strategy firm BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

The survey asked respondents, who came from four different world regions, for their views on what the best country was on a wide variety of subjects, including adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, business environment, power and quality of life.

Overall, Singapore was ranked the 15th best country in the world, also coming in eighth for its business environment and ninth for entrepreneurship among the countries in the survey.

The best country in the world overall was Germany, with Canada ranked second and the UK coming in third. Singapore was ranked the second-best country in Asia, behind Japan who was named seventh in the world overall. 

Algeria finished at the bottom of the rankings, followed by Ukraine and Iran at 59th and 58th respectively. 

US News said on its website that the measure for the most up-and-coming countries is predictive of a country’s future growth in terms of per capita purchasing power parity gross domestic product. 

"MOST FORWARD-LOOKING COUNTRY"

Singapore also came up tops in a sub-ranking for the most forward-looking country out of all the 60 countries. This ranking on an "additional list", however, did not affect Singapore's overall placement in the Best Countries list. 

The placement for "forward-looking" country was based on scores on a compilation of attributes - bureaucratic, dynamic, entrepreneurial, innovative and technological expertise - from more than 4,000 business decision makers, US News said. 

"To find a window that opens insight to the future, many people are clearly looking East," US News added. Four out of the six most forward-looking countries in the survey were from Asia. 

Other measures in the "additional list" included rankings for transparency, influence, green living, raising kids and women.

- CNA/mz