Economias asiáticas em crescimento

Amid all the geopolitical doom and gloom that is dominating the headlines, I thought I'd focus on a piece of good news this week: Asia's small and poor economies. While China is still a star performer in terms of economic growth—a remarkable achievement given its continental scale—growth is slowing, and every year it slips down the regional growth rankings. In 2015 our prediction is that Papua New Guinea will be Asia's fastest growing economy, with a number of others, including Cambodia and Mongolia, growing faster than China.

Asia is dotted with a number of rich countries, like South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, that were poor not so long ago.  These provide a compelling example for their regional neighbours to aspire to (although not for North Korea).  In many cases, smaller countries can also be more welcoming to foreign investment, as larger countries like China, India and Indonesia become increasingly selective about which sectors are open for foreign investment.

Of course, it's not all about growth rates. Despite Japan's meagre growth rate, in 2015 it will still add a hefty US$124bn to its GDP.  Simon Baptist, The Economist