The Asia-Pacific region is becoming a pivotal area in world affairs, particularly in economics. In previous decades, European nations and the United States dominated the world stage when it came to economic growth immediately after the conclusion of the Second World War. Now, 70 years later, it’s Asia’s turn to shine.
In Bloomberg’s recently published list of 20 thriving economies around the world, a large number in the list are countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Let us look at some of what we’ll call the “rising economies” of Asia.
China
There’s no doubt that the “sleeping dragon” has awakened and is reasserting itself in the Asian economic scene. China is first in Bloomberg’s list, with an economic growth of 7.3% in the last quarter of 2014. Bloomberg says that the growth is expected to top off at 7% only at the end of this year, but 7% is still a significant growth in any country’s economy. In addition, a report by PwC also predicts that China will become the world’s largest economy by 2030.
Philippines
Next in Bloomberg’s list is the Philippines, which closely followed China’s economic growth last year. According to the Asian Development Bank, the Philippine economy grew just over 6% last year and is expected to grow at least 5% in 2015. Bloomberg’s scale forecasts the growth to be over 6%. The country is also listed as one of the major contributors to global economic growth as it is one of the four nations that contribute an aggregate of 16% to the global gross domestic product.
Thailand
The ADB expects Thailand’s economy to stabilize and record growth in both 2015 and 2016. ADB estimates put Thailand’s economic growth at 3.6% in 2015 and 4.1% in 2016. Bloomberg, on the other hand, estimates a growth of at least 4% for 2015. This growth will be fueled by a return of investment in the country beginning this year, as well as expected infrastructure projects including an upgrade to Thailand’s existing railway system that connects the country to neighboring Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia as well as China.
India
#4 in Bloomberg’s list, India holds third place in the fastest rising economies in Asia for 2015. ADB reports show a growth of just over 7.4% in the government’s fiscal year of 2014, which ended March this year. Bloomberg expects the Indian economy to improve at least 5% by the time 2015 closes at the fourth year. Like its equally large neighbor – China – the PwC report also expected that India will be a strong contender for no. 2 in the list of the largest economies globally by 2050. It could be in close competition with the United States, after the US is possibly edged out as the largest economy in the world by China by 2050.
Clearly, the Asian region is beginning to reel in from the tumultuous years following the Second World War as well as from the recent global economic recession that began in 2008. This is a good time as any for foreign investors to think about making investments in the rising economies in Asia as, barring any adverse circumstances, the regional economy clearly has no other direction to go but up.
