The Asia-Pacific region was chosen by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its 2019 Global Competitiveness Report as the world's most competitive region, marking a shift in regional power.
According to CNBC, the WEF report noted that Asia-Pacific bagged this year's most competitive region with Singapore leading the way in improvements in various segments including the public sector.
Despite several European countries making it to the top 10 most competitive countries, Europe only took second place, below Asia-Pacific for regional competitiveness. North America slumped to the third spot.
Authors of the competitiveness report noted that while a global slowdown is being experienced, countries that invested in four major aspects of the economy have the capacity to better cushion the impact of the economic decline.
The four key areas are dynamism in business, innovation, and creativity in different segments, reforms, and improvements in institutions, and finally, human capital.
Among the countries that saw notable improvements in this year's index was Vietnam, as it placed 67th, and was named the most improved country. Vietnam's significant improvement in ranking helped pull Asia-Pacific to the top spot in the regional category.
This year's competitiveness report by country was somehow surprising for some economic experts. The United States, which took last year's top spot, landed in second place and behind Singapore.
Hong Kong took third place, the Netherlands followed behind at fourth, and Switzerland landed in fifth place. Japan, Germany, and Sweden took the sixth, seventh, and eighth spots respectively. Finally, the United Kingdom fell to ninth place, and Denmark rounded up the top 10 in this year's list.
Singapore scored high in some of the major indicators for an improving economy, toppling the U.S. life expectancy of 66 years old, with the Singaporean life expectancy at age 74. The Asian city-state also scored high in infrastructure, diversity, and its labor force.
According to CNN, the report pointed out that Singapore and Vietnam's good performances on this year's competitiveness index were supported by the benefits it has been experiencing through the China-U.S. trade war.
Vietnam, in particular, is considered a rising Southeast Asian tiger as it continues to benefit from the shift in manufacturing due to businesses trying to escape tariffs. Singapore, on the other hand, has yet to experience the same glory that Vietnam is managing well so far.
While Singapore is headed for its slowest growth rate this year, economic experts still believe the city-state is among the world's most dynamic and resilient economies and it could rise up above the global slowdown.
