World`s freest & more repressed economies in Asia: Survey

     Hong Kong, Jan 15: Asia is home to the world`s freest and most repressed economies, but Europe ranked highest as a region in terms of economic freedom, an annual report released on Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal said.

     Hong Kong and Singapore retained their no 1 and no rankings respectively on the Annual Index of Economic Freedom for the 14th successive year while India and China, two of the world`s largest economies, were ranked quite low on the scale, coming in at 126 and 115 respectively.

     European countries accounted for half of the top 20 economies considered free or mostly free, with Ireland at no 3, Switzerland at no 9 and Britain at no 10. The US ranked no 5, and Canada ranked 6th.

     Moves by newer members of the European Union to introduce straightforward tax policies to attract more investment were having a radical impact on the region as a whole, the authors said.

     "What we are seeing is a very strong commitment to economic freedom in the new EU countries, and this is having a positive impact on policies in the some of the older European countries such as France," said Edwin Feulner, President of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. "I think we will continue to see this evolve over time and we expect to see gradual improvement in economic freedom throughout Europe as a whole."

     The index, which grades 157 economies on 10 economic factors, including property rights, regulation of wages and prices and trade barriers, shows "a very high correlation" between a liberalized economy and a country`s prosperity, Feulner said.

     Several other Asian nations also were near the bottom of the index, including Vietnam (135th place), Laos (137), Bangladesh (149) and Myanmar (153).

     Bureau Report

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