When
the results of the annual study on globalisation done by consulting firm AT Kearney
and Foreign Policy magazine, were put together, India found itself No.71
in a list of 72 countries. Singapore ranked first for the third consecutive year.
Hong Kong, Jordan, and Estonia debuted among the top 10 most globalised nations
in their first year on the Globalisation Index. The
AT Kearney-Foreign Policy annual study assesses the extent to which nations
are becoming more or less globally connected. The index is published in the November
/ December issue of Foreign Policy. (See
top 20 list below.) Hong
Kong was ranked second; the Netherlands jumped four places to third, followed
by Switzerland and Ireland at fourth and fifth. The United States dropped four
spots to seventh, despite its continued strength in the index''s technology score.
Jordan and Estonia were ninth and tenth, respectively. The
2007 edition of the index is the largest and most comprehensive to date, having
added 10 economies to take the total to 72. The index accounts for 97 per cent
of global gross domestic product and 88 per cent of the world''s population. It
measures 12 variables grouped into four categories: economic integration, personal
contact, technological connectivity, and political engagement. The
index quantifies economic integration by combining data on trade and foreign direct
investment. Technological connectedness is gauged by counting Internet users,
Internet hosts, and secure servers. Political
engagement is assessed by taking stock of the number of selected international
organizations and the number of selected international treaties that each country
signs, as well as each country''s financial and personnel contributions to U.N.
peacekeeping missions and levels of governmental transfers. Personal contact is
charted by looking at a country''s international travel and tourism, international
telephone traffic and cross-border transfers, including remittances. The
2007 index does not, however, base itself on 2007 data. This year''s index actually
examines 2005 data, because that is the most recent year for which data is available. Select
country highlights Placing second overall, Hong Kong ranked first
in both the economic and personal contact categories of the index. Hong Kong''s
ties with China also helped as China was responsible for a large and increasing
share of the special administrative region''s tourist visits, direct investment,
and trade. Jordan
debuted at number nine after finishing in the top 10 for the economic, social,
and political components of the index. Jordan has one of the highest levels of
peacekeeping troop contributions of all U.N. member states. Estonia
joined the index at number 10 due to its economy''s reliance on trade and investment,
as well as openness to international tourists and business travellers. It received
the third-highest economic score after Hong Kong and Singapore. The
United States dropped to seventh place in this year''s rankings, finishing
second-to-last (just above Algeria) in economic measures as overall trade grew
only modestly and inward foreign direct investment shrank. But the country''s continued
high level of technological connectivity kept it from sliding out of the top 10. Vietnam,
another of the 10 new countries included in the index, debuted at 48 and ranked
10th in terms of trade, demonstrating its recent progress toward economic liberalization.
Export-driven sectors such as textiles and garments helped the economy grow and
further integrated Vietnam into global supply chains. China
fell 15 places in this year''s expanded index to 66 overall. The country''s decline
is in part a result of lower trade growth compared to the previous year-possibly
as the country shifts its emphasis to domestic demand-led growth over export-led
growth-and a decline in the political index due to smaller increases in contributions
to U.N. peacekeeping operations. India''s
export of services and its total trade both rose by more than a third, but the
country still finished near the bottom of the rankings at 71 overall. The country''s
standing as a premier offshoring destination with a booming economy often masks
the fact that 70 percent of its population lives in rural areas. Despite a doubling
of Internet users in 2005, only 5 percent of India''s population had access to
the Internet and less than half of its population was attached to the power grid.
Belgium,
another first-year index participant, debuted at 15 overall. The country scored
in the top 20 in both the economic and social indexes. In
addition to the rankings, this year''s index also explores the relationships between
a country''s global integration and its size, Web traffic, and urban growth. The
results show that: -
Globalisation is a much larger imperative for smaller countries with small domestic
markets and limited natural resources. Seven of the top 10 countries in the index
have populations fewer than 8 million and eight have smaller land areas than the
US state of Indiana. But total trade as a percentage of gross domestic product
for countries such as Ireland and Singapore is more than twice that of economic
heavyweights China and India.
- More
globalised countries have more international Internet bandwidth. The bandwidth
of the US, for example, so exceeds that of other countries that most of the e-mail
traffic flowing between Latin America and Europe passes through the US.
- Less
globalised countries tend to have faster-growing cities. Low-ranking countries
such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Indonesia have urban growth rates much higher
than countries that performed well in the index.
Top
20 most globalised countries | Rank | Country | Rank | Country |
1 | Singapore | 11 | Sweden |
2 | Hong
Kong | 12 | United
Kingdom | 3 | Netherlands | 13 | Australia | 4 | Switzerland | 14 | Austria | 5 | Ireland | 15 | Belgium | 6 | Denmark | 16 | New
Zealand | 7 | United
States | 17 | Norway | 8 | Canada | 18 | Finland | 9 | Jordan | 19 | Czech
Republic | 10 | Estonia | 20 | Slovenia |
|