2009 competitiveness rankings of ASEAN-10 and 79 Asian economies.

Abstract

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8th August

1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration by the Founding

Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. In

8th January 1984, Brunei joined ASEAN as its 6th member. This was followed by

Vietnam on 28th July 1985, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23rd July 1997, and finally,

Cambodia on 30th April 1999. Eventually, these ten countries make up what we call the

ASEAN-10 today.

In our study, the methodology that we used closely mirrors the approach used by the

World Competitiveness Yearbook. This methodology is used in measuring the

competitiveness of the ASEAN-10 economies and also the 79 Asian Economies which

includes the Greater China and India. Under the competitiveness for the 79 Asian

Economies, the Greater China and India are studied at a more disaggregated level,

breaking-down the China economy to a provincial level and the India economy to its

states. This can give us a more comprehensive picture of the competitiveness level in the

region given the sheer size and diversity of the two emerging powerhouses in the world

economy.