Singapore leads the world in talent competitiveness

Source: INSEAD GTCI infographic. GTCI ranks in 2023 vs 2025. Singapore has moved up while Australia has moved down in the top 12.

Singapore has leapfrogged Switzerland to take top spot in the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), riding on its strength in cultivating adaptable, digitally fluent and innovation-ready workforces in the age of AI.

This year is the first time the city-state topped the annual ranking, which was launched by INSEAD in 2013 as a benchmark for policy thinking on labour markets, work organisation and talent flows.

Themed Resilience in the Age of Disruption, the 11th GTCI examines how nations and economies are building talent systems capable of weathering disruptions. The ranking of 135 economies is based on 77 indicators, including soft skills and AI talent concentration, across six dimensions: Enable, Attract, Grow, Retain, Vocational and Technical Skills, and Generalist Adaptive Skills.

Lily Fang, INSEAD’s Dean of Research and Innovation, commented: “This year’s report should be seen as much more than a race between nations. It offers leaders thoughtful points of reflection on how to integrate powerful technologies, such as AI, into the grand pursuit of human progress.”

This year’s ranking also marks the launch of a new partnership between INSEAD and the Portulans Institute, a non-profit research outfit based in the US. “This collaboration brings renewed depth and clarity to the GTCI at a time when rapid technological change, geopolitical uncertainty and profound societal transitions make dependable talent metrics more essential than ever,” said Rafael Escalona Reynoso, CEO of Portulans Institute.

Singapore stands apart in the latest ranking for the constant evolution of its educational system and its forward-looking approach to nurturing an adaptive and innovation-driven workforce, said the GTCI report.

The city-state was ranked first in Generalist Adaptive Skills for a workforce armed with the soft skills, digital literacy and innovation-oriented thinking that today’s fast-shifting landscape demands. Generalist Adaptive Skills has emerged as one of the strongest determinants of talent competitiveness. Singapore’s ability to retain talent also surged seven spots from 2023, to 31st in 2025. 

The city-state has also scored well for its effective governance and high standard of living, in addition to the constant evolution of its educational system and its forward-looking approach to nurturing an adaptive, innovation-driven workforce. Furthermore, Singapore placed first in the Formal Education and Regulatory Landscape measures, showing the depth and resilience of its human capital systems and institutional frameworks. 

“Economies that cultivate adaptable, cross-functional and AI-literate workforces tend to be better positioned to convert disruption into opportunity and sustain long-term competitiveness,” said Professor Paul Evans, Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD and co-editor of the report.

“This year’s results underscore that talent competitiveness is not solely a function of income level, but of strategic policy orientation, institutional quality and effective mobilisation of human capital resources.”

GTCI 2025: The top 20

1. Singapore	11. Ireland
2. Switzerland	12. UK
3. Denmark	13. Iceland
4. Finland	14. Canada
5. Sweden	15. Belgium
6. Netherlands	16. Austria
7. Norway	17. Germany
8. Luxembourg	18. New Zealand
9. US	19. France
10. Australia	20. Czech Republic

One of the defining messages of GTCI 2025 is that the ability to translate investments into meaningful outcomes will set economies apart in the talent race. Singapore, South Korea and Israel stood out for their ability to get better talent outcomes with fewer resources. 

This was also true for some lower-middle income countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Low-income countries also demonstrated strong foundations for talent development. 

Evans said: “Economies that align education, labour and innovation systems towards adaptive talent development can achieve high performance even with modest income levels.” 

Regionally speaking, there were few surprises. Europe continues to dominate the ranking, accounting for 18 of the top 25 positions. In Asia and Oceania, Australia (10th) and New Zealand (18th) outscored Singapore in retaining talent but fell behind in General Adaptive Skills.  

China’s decline from 40th to 53rd reflected a less favourable business climate and labour market, though the report acknowledges that insufficient data could also have played a part. India, on the other hand, climbed three spots, to 100th. Strengthening the quality of its vocational education and employability could help it capitalise on its digital strengths and world-leading IT service exports.  

North Africa and Western Asia were led by Israel (23rd) while the UAE (25th) topped the region in attracting talent and developing skills, although it lagged in high-level skills.

“True resilience in talent is turning adversity into a catalyst for innovation, adaptability and renewed purpose,” said Professor Felipe Monteiro, GTCI Academic Director and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD.

“Resilience means learning how to bounce forward, not just bounce back from the inevitable shocks and crises.”

Escalona Reynoso added: “What matters most today are adaptive capabilities: the ability to collaborate, think across disciplines, innovate under pressure and navigate fast-moving, tech-driven environments.

“These are the skills that increasingly define a country’s competitiveness - and the GTCI now captures this reality more clearly than ever.”

Escalona Reynoso, Professor Evans and Professor Monteiro co-authored an INSEAD Knowledge article that identified the Nordic nations, Singapore and Switzerland as good examples of societal resilience in action. Resilience entails giving priority to active labour market practices to support citizens in bouncing forward from job loss, which may accelerate with the impact of AI, they explained.

Resilience also means having educational systems that help people learn from adversity, alongside a continued focus on developing organisational agility and collaborative problem-solving. To achieve resilience, people must be able to collaborate, think across disciplines, innovate under pressure and navigate fast-moving, tech-driven environments. The Generalist Adaptive Skills dimension of this year’s report operationalises this idea within the talent framework, while new indicators on AI capability, soft skills, employee well-being and workforce resilience measure not only where countries stand, but their preparedness for what comes next.

Taking an AI lens to the situation, the authors said that "the capacity to integrate AI tools, think critically about their use, and combine technological fluency with human-centric soft skills will be indispensable".

Explore

Download the report and infographics at https://www.insead.edu/global-talent-competitiveness-index

Hashtag: #GTCI2025

Savills: Dubai is the No. 1 destination for executive nomads

The UAE has taken the top two spots in the Savills Executive Nomad Index this year. Dubai has retained its lead position for the 2nd consecutive year, while UAE capital Abu Dhabi moved from 4th place to 2nd this year. 

The Savills Executive Nomad Index ranks 25 destinations for long-term remote workers. All either have a digital nomad visa programme, or equivalent, or in the case of the US and European countries, are already part of a large economic bloc that allows free movement of people for living or work. 

They offer favourable climates year-round, a high quality of life and have established prime residential markets. Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi rank highly in several categories; however, Dubai has a large advantage in air connectivity, which places it ahead of Abu Dhabi overall. 

Dubai International, its main airport, is the world’s busiest for international passenger traffic. The recently announced Al Makhtoum airport expansion in Dubai will make it the largest airport in the world upon completion. 

“Dubai and Abu Dhabi are incredibly appealing to executive nomads, because they offer everything you need to thrive both personally and professionally, from modern infrastructure to high quality of life,” said Andrew Cummings, Head of Residential Agency - Middle East at Savills. 

“We’ve seen a real focus on creating a lively business environment where there are plenty of opportunities to grow, build networks and make lifelong connections.”

Source: Savills. The Savills Executive Nomad Index 2024 includes Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Bali as destinations.

“The more common digital nomad is symbolised by the young backpacker; however, executive nomads tend to be older and more likely travel with family in tow,” said Kelcie Sellers, Associate Director, Savills World Research. 

“This places a greater emphasis on the quality of life aspects that these top international locations can provide, such as safety and access to healthcare or education facilities. For these individuals, both physical networking and digital connectivity are important and must be accounted for. 

“Executive nomads are more likely to rent, and put an emphasis on extra space and proximity to local amenities. Prime rents have risen, on average, by 5% in the last year across the 25 locations monitored in the Savills index, with some urban markets seeing increases of more than 15%.” 

Also new to the 2024 Index is Bali in 12th place, the 1st and only Southeast Asian city in the index.

Ladies in KSA prefer Apple to Almarai

Apple has beat dairy brand Almarai to become the top brand in the 2019 Women’s Choice Brand Rankings* by YouGov MENA for KSA. With new iPhones and Apple watches last year, the brand generated a lot of noise and has strengthened its appeal among women, YouGov said.

Almarai increased the price of milk in the past year, which generated substantial resentment among consumers. They took to social media to call for boycotts of the brand. Almarai’s perception among women in KSA declined subsequently, pulling it down from 1st to 5th place this year.

Source: YouGov. 2019 Women's Choice Rankings for KSA: top 10.

The rankings were compiled using the Impression score from YouGov’s daily brand tracker, BrandIndex, asking respondents the question “Which of the following brands do you generally have a positive/negative feeling about?” over the past 12 months.

Apple’s smartphone brand, iPhone, is now in 2nd place.

Fast food restaurant chain Al Baik climbed from 7th in last year's YouGov BrandIndex Women's Rankings to 3rd this year.

Dettol has moved up to 6th from 8th last year while Fairy and Alrajhi Bank are new entrants at 8th and 9th respectively. Galaxy (the chocolate brand) made a re-entry into the list at 10th. It had dropped out last year.

Technology brands did not do well. Both WhatsApp and YouTube saw a decline in their rankings, slipping down to 4th and 7th respectively in 2019.

YouGov also revealed the 10 brands that made the largest improvement to their Impression scores over the past 12 months. Telco mada is the most improved brand of the past year among women with a change in score of +11.5, going from an Impression score of 23.2 in last year's YouGov BrandIndex Women's Rankings to 34.7 this year.

Food and beverage brands seem to be resonating well with women in LKSA. Some of the top brands such as Maestro Pizza (+8.7), Coca-Cola (+8.2), Pepsi (+7.4), Kinder (+7.0) and Tasali (+5.9) are in the list of the top 10 improvers.

Source: YouGov. 2019 Women's Choice Rankings for KSA. The brands that improved the most year on year.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is also becoming popular amongst women and has shown a marked improvement in its score (+7.9), becoming the fourth best improver of 2019.

*The 501 brands in KSA in the YouGov BrandIndex were ranked using the Impression score, which asks respondents, “Overall, of which of the following brands do you have Positive/Negative impression?” Scores are net scores, calculated by subtracting the percentage of negative responses from the percentage of positive responses for each brand.

The Women’s Rankings chart shows the brands with the highest average Impression scores between February 1, 2018 and January 31, 2019. The Impression Improvers chart ranks the brands with the highest increase in Impression comparing the scores for the 12 months ending January 31, 2019 and the 12-month period ending January 31, 2018. To be included, the year-over-year variance must be positive. Scores are representative amongst women.

All Impression scores listed have been rounded to a single decimal place; however, YouGov also used additional precision to assign ranks.

All brands had to be tracked for at least six months to be included in the rankings. They had to be tracked for at least six months in the prior year’s period (as well as be currently tracked) to appear in the movers' tables.

TrustYou lists the best hotels in SEA

TrustYou, the guest feedback platform, has published its research* on the best hotels in Southeast Asia. 

Leading the pack out of 11 properties in Singapore is Naumi Hotel Singapore, followed by Oasia Hotel Novena by Far East Hospitality, Hotel Jen Orchardgateway Singapore, The Ritz - Carlton Millenia Singapore and Conrad Centennial Singapore.

The March 2018 list of best-rated luxury hotels from TrustYou, covering Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines, lists The Westin Langkawi in Malaysia as the top hotel among the countries surveyed, followed in No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 place by Thai hotels: the JW Marriott Phuket, the Hansar Bangkok, and the Renaissance Phuket. The New World Manila, Philippines, is in No. 5 place, followed by sixth-ranked Grand Hyatt Jakarta. The Naumi Singapore, the InterContinental Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, the Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort in Thailand, and the Oasia Hotel Novena Singapore round out the top 10.

The three best-rated hotels in Vietnam are:

• Hotel de l'Opera Hanoi
• Paloma Cruise - this is a boat which offers overnight stays
• InterContinental Saigon

For Cambodia, they are:

• Anantara Angkor Resort
• Hotel Shinta Mani Siem Reap
• Heritage Suites Hotel

There is one entry for Laos, the Luang Say Residence. For the Philippines, Solaire Resort & Casino is ranked No. 2, and the Monaco Suites de Boracay is ranked 3rd. In Indonesia, the Mulia Villas in Bali is ranked No. 2, while the JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta is No. 3. In Malaysia, the JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur is in third place. 

These aggregated results are drawn from TrustYou’s keyword analysis of travel reviews associated with hotels, destinations and travel websites scattered across the vast and fragmented market. The company draws its data from over 230,000 travel reviews a month from various sources and transforms this content into actionable insights and visualisations for over half a million hotels.

*A hotel is defined as luxury hotel if it gets a certain amount of keywords such as "luxury" and "luxurious" in their reviews that TrustYou analyses. The company looks at reviews, popularity within the same city, and popularity globally.

Asia shines in global indices on talent, innovation

India and Vietnam are outperforming their development-level peers, according to the Global Innovation Index 2017* (GII) co-authored by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Key findings show the rise of India as an emerging innovation centre in Asia.
 
Each year, the GII surveys some 130 economies using dozens of metrics, from patent filings to education spending providing decision makers a high-level look at the innovative activity that increasingly drives economic and social growth. In a new feature for the GII, a special section looks at “invention hotspots” around the globe that show the highest density of inventors listed in international patent applications.

Now in its 10th edition, the GII 2017 notes a continued gap in innovative capacity between developed and developing nations and lacklustre growth rates for research and development (R&D) activities, both at the government and corporate levels.

“Innovation is the engine of economic growth in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy, but more investment is needed to help boost human creativity and economic output,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “Innovation can help transform the current economic upswing into longer-term growth.”

Global rankings 2017, with 2016 rankings in brackets

1	Switzerland (No. 1 in 2016)	14	Japan (16)
2	Sweden (2)	15	France (18)
3	Netherlands (9)	16	Hong Kong (14)
4	US (4)	17	Israel (21)
5	UK (3)	18	Canada (15)
6	Denmark (8)	19	Norway (22)
7	Singapore (6)	20	Austria (20)
8	Finland (5)	21	New Zealand (17)
9	Germany (10)	22	Mainland China (25)
10	Ireland (7)	23	Australia (19)
11	Korea (11)	24	Czech Republic (27)
12	Luxembourg (12)	25	Estonia (24)
13	Iceland (13)

In 2017, high-income economies took 24 of the top 25 spots, China being the exception at No. 22. In 2016, China became the first-ever middle income economy in the top 25. 
 

“Efforts to bridge the innovation divide have to start with helping emerging economies understand their innovation strengths and weaknesses and create appropriate policies and metrics,” said Soumitra Dutta, Dean, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University. “This has been the GII’s purpose for more than ten years now.”

A group of middle and lower-income economies performed significantly better on innovation than their current level of development would predict: a total of 17 economies comprise these ‘innovation achievers’ this year, a slight increase from 2016. Next to innovation powerhouses such as mainland China, Japan, and Korea, a group of Asian economies including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam are actively working to improve their innovation ecosystems and rank high in a number of important indicators related to education, research and development (R&D), productivity growth, high-tech exports, among others.  

The theme of the GII 2017, Innovation Feeding the World, looks at innovation carried out in agriculture and food systems. Over the next decades, the agriculture and food sector will face an enormous rise in global demand and increased competition for limited natural resources. In addition, it will need to adapt to and help mitigate climate change. Innovation is key to sustaining the productivity growth required to meet this rising demand and to helping enhance the networks that integrate the sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management known as food systems.

“We are already witnessing the rapid, worldwide emergence of ‘digital agriculture,’ which includes drones, satellite-based sensors and field robotics,” said Bruno Lanvin, INSEAD Executive Director for Global Indices. “Now there is an urgent need for ‘smart agriculture’ to optimise supply and distribution chains and foster creative new business models that minimise pressure on land, energy and other natural resources - while addressing the needs of the world’s poorest.”

“By 2050, the world’s population is estimated to reach 9.7 billion. This presents the global agricultural sector with a daunting challenge. The stage has been set for a potential global food crisis if policy makers and other stakeholders fail to implement agricultural innovation that significantly boosts productivity,” said Barry Jaruzelski, Principal at Strategy&, PwC's strategy consulting business.

Korea maintains its top overall rankings in patenting and other intellectual property (IP)-related indicators, while ranking second in human capital and research, with its business sector contributing significantly to R&D efforts. Japan, ranked third in the region, is in the top 10 global economies for R&D, information and communication technologies, trade, competition, market scale, knowledge absorption, creation, and diffusion.

China continues moving ahead in the overall GII ranking (22^nd overall this year), reflecting high scores in business sophistication and knowledge and technology outputs. China this year displays a strong performance in several indicators, including the presence of global R&D companies, research talent in business enterprise, patent applications and other IP‐related variables.

Within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN): 

• Singapore is the top performer in most of the indicators, with a few notable exceptions: ICT services exports, where the Philippines leads, and expenditure on education, where Vietnam leads. 
• Thailand’s strengths include creative goods exports and gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) financed by business, where it places 5th and 6^th globally. 
• Vietnam shows the second best rank of the region in expenditure on education and also performs well in labour productivity growth, economy-wide investment, and foreign direct investment net inflows. 
• Malaysia ranks well in high-tech imports and exports, university/industry research collaboration, and graduates in science and engineering.

By subregion, India, 60^th globally, is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia. It has outperformed on innovation relative to its GDP per capita for seven years in a row, researchers note. India has shown improvement in most areas, including in infrastructure, business sophistication, knowledge and technology and creative outputs. India ranks 14^th overall in the presence of global R&D companies, considerably better than comparable groups of lower- and upper-middle-income economies. India also surpasses most other middle-income economies in science and engineering graduates, gross capital formation, GERD performed by business, research talent, on the input side; quality of scientific publications, growth rate of GDP per worker, high-tech and ICT services exports, creative goods exports, high-tech manufactures, and IP receipts on the output side.

“Public policy plays a pivotal role in creating an enabling environment conducive to innovation. In the last two years, we have seen important activities around the GII in India like the formation of India’s high-level Task Force on Innovation and consultative exercises on both innovation policy and better innovation metrics,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry.

Iran (75^th overall) excels in tertiary education, ranking second in the world in number of graduates in science and engineering. Tajikistan (94th) is first in the world in microfinance loans, while Kazakhstan (78^th) ranks first globally in pupil‐teacher ratio and third in ease of protecting minority investors.

Third in the Northern Africa and Western Asia region is the UAE (35^th globally), benefiting from increased data availability and shows strengths in tertiary inbound mobility, innovation clusters and ICT-driven business model innovation. Sixteen of the 19 economies in the Northern Africa and Western Asia region are in the top 100 globally, including Turkey (43rd), Qatar (49th), KSA (55th), Kuwait (56th), Bahrain (66th), Oman (77th), Lebanon (81st), Azerbaijan (82nd), and Jordan (83rd).

The GII, in its 10th edition this year, is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialised agency of the United Nations. Published annually since 2007, the GII is now a leading benchmarking tool for business executives, policy makers and others seeking insight into the state of innovation around the world. Policymakers, business leaders and other stakeholders use the GII to evaluate progress on a continual basis.

The core of the GII report consists of a ranking of world economies’ innovation capabilities and results. Recognising the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity, and the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation applicable to developed and emerging economies, the GII includes indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation such as the level of research and development.

In April, INSEAD separately announced that Singapore had been ranked No. 1 in Asia Pacific and No. 2 globally according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI) 2017. 

Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2017 
Rankings: Top Ten

1 Switzerland

2 Singapore

3 UK

4 US

5 Sweden

6 Australia

7 Luxembourg

8 Denmark

9 Finland

10 Norway

Singapore is ranked second globally for the fourth consecutive year, retaining its top spot in Asia Pacific. Australia (6th), New Zealand (14th), Japan (22nd), Malaysia (28th) and South Korea (29th), ranked within the Top 30 globally.

Produced in partnership with The Adecco Group and the Human Capital Leadership Institute of Singapore (HCLI), the GTCI is an annual benchmarking report that measures the ability of countries to compete for talent. Focusing on Talent and Technology, the 2017 report explores the effects of technological change on talent competitiveness and the future of work, arguing that while jobs at all levels continue to be replaced by machines, technology is also creating new opportunities.

In Asia Pacific, the countries that ranked within the Top 30 globally included:

-          Singapore (2nd)

-          Australia (6th)

-          New Zealand (14th)

-          Japan (22nd)

-          Malaysia (28th)

-          South Korea (29th)

-          Philippines (52nd)

-          Kazakhstan (53rd)

-          China (54th)

-          Thailand (73rd)

-          Sri Lanka (82nd)

-          Kyrgyzstan (87th)

-          Mongolia (72nd)

-          Vietnam (86th)

-          Indonesia (90th)

-          India (92nd)

-          Bhutan (98th)

-          Iran (103rd)

-          Cambodia (108th)

-          Pakistan (111th)

-          Bangladesh (113rd)

The GTCI is an annual study measuring the ability of countries to compete for talent. Designed for governments, businesses and non-profit organisations, the GTCI ranks over 100 economies according to their ability to develop, attract and retain talent.

High-ranking countries share key traits, including educational systems that meet the needs of the economy; employment policies that favour flexibility, mobility and entrepreneurship; and high connectedness of stakeholders in business, education and government as well as high level of technological competence, INSEAD said.

Ilian Mihov, Dean of INSEAD, said: “This year’s GTCI report shows that countries in the Asia Pacific region demonstrate strong talent readiness for technology. It also highlights the important role of education. Educational systems have to revamp to help learners foster learning agility and adjust on the fly of changing conditions. INSEAD looks forward to fully playing its role as a leading global provider of talent and leadership.”

Singapore has shown outstanding performance in the Enable, Attract and Global Knowledge pillars. Countries can learn from Singapore’s well-developed regulatory and market landscapes for global talent to thrive and its ability to anticipate the movements of the economy.

Su-Yen Wong, CEO of Human Capital Leadership Institute, commented: “The recent report published by Singapore’s Committee on the Future Economy suggested that building strong digital capabilities is one of the key strategies that will propel Singapore’s growth for the next two decades. Digital technologies will help small and exposed economies like Singapore punch above their weight by creating means for their businesses and talent to reach out to the global market. Countries must continue to upskill their workforce so that they can adapt to the digitisation wave and the sweeping structural changes that are poised to shakeup traditional work arrangements.”

Asia’s giants China (54th) and India (92nd) are still a fair distance away from the top. Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director of Global Indices at INSEAD and co-editor of the report said: “Overall, a big challenge for China and India lies in their ability to attract talent, and they both face the issue of local higher-skilled workers leaving to live and work abroad. To improve their attractiveness, the countries can further boost their regulatory and market landscapes.

“However, delving deeper and looking at the city-level, the two countries have metropolises exemplary in terms of their talent attractiveness. Shanghai and Mumbai (apart from Singapore) are the only Asian cities identified and ranked in the inaugural edition of the Global Cities Talent Competitiveness Index (GCTCI), but future editions will undoubtedly include more, confirming the growing attractiveness of Asian cities.”

Australia (6th) performed exceptionally being ranked in the Top 10 this year, as it is one of the top countries in the Attract and Global Knowledge Skills pillars. However, Vocational and Technical Skills show room for improvement. This may indicate that the country’s structural shift towards knowledge jobs and services is perhaps leaving gaps in the technical/vocational area.

Christophe Duchatellier, Regional Head of Asia Pacific, The Adecco Group, commented, “Although Singapore, Australia and New Zealand all feature in the Top 20 of this edition of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index, these latest findings highlight the increasing challenges that many countries in the Asia Pacific region have in attracting and retaining talent. In 2017 we are already observing organisations across the region placing an increased emphasis on world-class talent attraction strategies and tactics that will support them in remaining competitive. We would expect to see more organisations offering internship and apprenticeship programmes to foster skills development.”

Malaysia (28th) is the top-ranked country in the group of upper-middle-income countries. The country ranks above higher-income countries such as South Korea (29th).

Paul Evans, The Shell Chair Professor of Human Resources and Organisational Development, Emeritus, at INSEAD, and Academic Director and co-editor of the Global Talent Competitiveness Index said: “Malaysia performs particularly well in the pillars of the Enabling context and Vocational and Technical Skills. It also does well on External Openness as it has been able to attract talent from overseas. In addition, in terms of talent readiness for technology, Malaysia ranks higher than South Korea even though the IT infrastructure of the latter is much superior. The country can boost its rankings if it further improves in Internal Openness in terms of tolerance of minorities.”

Japan (22nd) has a solid overall performance, although it dipped slightly from last year. One of its main challenges is the Attract pillar where it is far behind the top three countries of this region. Middle-income countries such as Malaysia attract more foreign talent.

Although South Korea (29th) makes it into the top 30 this year, it is the lowest-ranking high-income country in the region. Despite being the top country in dimensions such as Tertiary enrollment and the Market Landscape—with world-class R&D in­vestments—the country has major room for improvement in the Attract pillar.

The Philippines (52nd) is the top lower-middle-income country, ranking above several upper-middle-income countries such as China (54th), and even above some high-income countries such as Kuwait (57th) and Oman (59th). Its greatest strength is its good pool of both Vocational and Technical Skills and Global Knowl­edge Skills.

Interested?

Download the Global Innovation Index 2017 report

Read the Global Talent Competitiveness Index report

Download the GTCI 2017 Infographic at this link

Watch the GTCI 2017 Video graphic at this link

The Asia infographic is also attached for media usage.

*To support the global innovation debate, to guide polices and to highlight good practices, metrics are required to assess innovation and related policy performance. The GII creates an environment in which innovation factors are under continual evaluation, including the following features:

• 127 country/economy profiles, including data, ranks, and strengths and weaknesses

• 81 data tables for indicators from over 30 international public and private sources, of which 57 are hard data, 19 composite indicators, and five survey questions

• A transparent and replicable computation methodology including 90% confidence intervals for each index ranking (GII, output and input sub-indices) and an analysis of factors affecting year-on-year changes in rankings

The GII 2017 is calculated as the average of two sub-indices. The Innovation Input Sub-Index gauges elements of the national economy which embody innovative activities grouped in five pillars:

• Institutions, 
• Human capital and research, 
• Infrastructure, 
• Market sophistication, and 
• Business sophistication. 

The Innovation Output Sub-Index captures actual evidence of innovation results, divided in two pillars: knowledge and technology outputs andcreative outputs.

The index is submitted to an independent statistical audit by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

posted from Bloggeroid

Women entrepreneurs cannot survive on grit alone: Mastercard

Strong supporting conditions such as access to financial services and ease of doing business pave the way for progress in businesses owned by women, according to findings from the inaugural Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs*. These enabling conditions are pivotal in overcoming the two main obstacles that most discourage women from becoming entrepreneurs – cultural biases and fewer opportunities for their advancement, say the research.

Overall, developed markets top the index, led by New Zealand (74.4), Canada (72.4) and the US (69.9). These countries have the strongest conditions that support women business ownership, such as robust small- and mid-sized business communities, a high quality of governance and ease of doing business.

Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs – Top 10 markets with the strongest supporting conditions and opportunities for women to thrive as entrepreneurs

New Zealand – 74.4
Canada – 72.4
US – 69.9
Sweden – 69.6
Singapore – 69.5
Belgium – 69.0
Australia – 68.5
Philippines – 68.4
UK – 67.9
Thailand – 67.5

On the other hand, lower-income economies such as Bangladesh (31.6%) and Vietnam (31.4%) have some of the highest percentages of women entrepreneurs, driven mostly by necessity as opposed to being inspired by business opportunities.

Women business owners as a % of all business owners – Top 10 markets

Uganda – 34.8%
Botswana – 34.6%
New Zealand – 33.3%
Russia – 32.6%
Australia – 32.4%
Bangladesh – 31.6%
Vietnam – 31.4%
China – 30.9%
Spain – 30.8%
US – 30.7%

"The prevalence of ambitious, resourceful women should be regarded as a prime business opportunity. As society addresses existing cultural bias, we will do our part to help create those conditions that will strengthen and fuel the foundation for personal and economic growth,” said Martina Hund-Mejean, Chief Financial Officer, Mastercard.

“By increasing access to critical networks, our study shows that women are more able to recognise their full potential, achieve their goals and ultimately accelerate more inclusive growth. We have a fantastic opportunity to address cultural and organisational issues and further empower women leaders,” said Ann Cairns, President, International Markets, Mastercard.

The index suggests that countries with enabling conditions foster more Opportunity-Driven Entrepreneurs (driven by desire to progress) while countries with less conducive supporting conditions tend to breed more Necessity-Driven Entrepreneurs (driven by need to survive).

What spurs female entrepreneurship in developing markets? The research calls it 'grit'. Bangladesh (31.6 percent), Vietnam (31.4%) and China (30.9%) made the list of the top 10 markets for proportion of women business owners as a percentage of total business owners. In these economies, women capitalise on business opportunities that do not rely on knowledge or innovation assets alone.
However, successful businesses cannot survive on grit. To help women entrepreneurs thrive, they need access to financial services and products; ease of doing business; strong support for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and quality governance. These factors were seen in the countries in the top five spots on the index.

There are other markets such as the Philippines (68.4, 8th), Malaysia (63.9, 25th), and China (61.3, 31st) where even though supporting conditions for entrepreneurs are not as conducive, yet the local entrepreneurship landscape is highly energised and vibrant with a very healthy perception of business opportunities and high regard for the status of successful entrepreneurs. Women entrepreneurs here are often driven by a strong desire to succeed.

The low scores of markets such as India (41.7, 49th) and KSA (37.2, 52nd) are indicative of the fact that cultural biases against women severely undermine their ability to rise to positions of leadership and take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities.

According to the index, some of the biggest obstacles that hinder women from venturing into business include lack of financial funding/venture capital, regulatory restrictions and institutional inefficiencies, lack of self-belief and entrepreneurial drive, fear of failure, sociocultural restrictions, and lack of training and education. In nearly all of the 54 economies covered, at least one or more of these constraints are holding back the progress of women as business owners.

“While there is still work to do, it is encouraging to see New Zealand’s supporting conditions for women in entrepreneurship are the highest in the world,” says Peter Chisnall, Country Manager for Mastercard New Zealand and the Pacific Islands of New Zealand's No. 1 position. “It is clear that the solid economic stability of New Zealand, access to financial services, robust small and mid-sized business communities and ease of doing business helps provide opportunities for businesses owned by women.”

In New Zealand, the most significant barrier for women entrepreneurs is fear of failure, at 22%. This was followed by the SME employee turnover rate (16%).

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*The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs tracks female entrepreneurs’ ability to capitalise on opportunities granted through various supporting conditions within their local environments and is the weighted sum of three components: Women’s Advancement Outcomes (degree of bias against women as workforce participants, political and business leaders, as well as the financial strength and entrepreneurial inclination of women), Knowledge Assets and Financial Assets (degree of access women have to basic financial services, advanced knowledge assets, and support for small and medium enterprises), and Supporting Entrepreneurial Conditions (overall perceptions on the ease on conducting business locally, quality of local governance, women’s perception of safety levels and cultural perception of women’s household financial influence). 

The index uses 12 indicators and 25 sub-indicators to look at how 54 economies across Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, North America, Latin America and Europe, representing 78.6% of the world’s female labour force, differ in terms of the level of Women’s Advancement Outcomes, Knowledge Assets & Financial Access, and Supporting Entrepreneurial Factors.

Dubai rises one spot in Dubai Innovation Index

• Dubai moves up one spot to rank 15th among 28 global innovation cities
• HE Buamim: Index enables us to identify areas for improvement and recommendations for boosting competitiveness

Source: Dubai Chamber. Buamim.

Dubai is in 15th position on the second edition of the Dubai Innovation Index, released by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the sidelines of the UAE Innovation Week.

The survey, launched by the Chamber in cooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), analysed 28 top global innovation cities. This year, the emirate moved up one position and outperformed business hubs such as Madrid, Milan, Shanghai, and Moscow.

New York secured the top position in the Index, while London was fourth after placing first last year. GCC cities scored marks in the political, economic and social indicators category.

The Dubai Innovation Index, one of the leading pillars of the chamber’s innovation strategy, highlighted the Dubai government’s ongoing efforts in spearheading innovation initiatives in the emirate, the private sector’s significant contribution, and increased public-private sector collaboration.

The Index showed that Dubai’s private sector companies have started embracing innovation and taking innovation initiatives forward as companies become more proactive about implementing new ideas. Business have also recognised the importance of finding and retaining the best talent required to drive innovation, while they work to align skills to meet the requirements of the labour market.

HE Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, said the Innovation Index results show the Dubai government’s efforts in laying down a strong foundation to drive innovation citywide are taking effect, thanks to its proactive approach that involves the private sector and civil society.

Yet, there remain some areas where Dubai can improve, namely investment in research and development (R&D), developing employees’ skillsets, and raising IT awareness. In addition, there is still a need for businesses to adopt long-term innovation strategies that support the sustainable development of the emirate’s economy rather than their own institutional objectives.

HE Buamim said: “The Index has succeeded in identifying areas where we need to improve upon in order to boost our competitiveness. By embracing innovative strategies and practices, the private sector can contribute greatly to Dubai’s vision to become one of the world’s most innovative cities by 2021.”

Anil Khurana, Partner, PwC said: “The second edition of the Dubai Innovation Index comes at an interesting time for Dubai, the region, and the world. Though the region and the world are going through significant economic uncertainty, and several sectors are badly hit, the role of innovation in Dubai and the world has kept its pace.

“Aside from the government, several leading companies are now investing significantly not only in greater R&D activities, but also in emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), 3D printing, drones, and dozens of others that are often known by the moniker of Industry 4.0.”

Dubai Chamber’s innovation strategy aims to stimulate innovation in the private sector. Its three main pillars focus on supporting enablers of innovation, measuring innovation and honouring innovators as the growth and development of innovation requires the contribution of all segments of society. The Chamber plans to invest AED100 million on innovation-focused projects and initiatives over the next three years.

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Oman leads Arab countries in World Bank index on ease of doing business

The Sultanate of Oman has advanced three ranks in the World Bank 2017 Doing Business Report, ranking 66th globally. In the business sub-index, Oman was the top Arab country and 32nd globally, a jump of 127 points compared to the previous report.

Doing Business studies quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights across 190 economies. Ten indicators are measured on the ease of doing business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

The Sultanate made a progress in the Starting a Business Index by removing the requirement to pay minimum capital within three months of incorporation and streamlining the registration of employees. In the  Trading Across Borders index, Oman has reduced the time for border and documentary compliance by introducing a new online portal that allows for rapid electronic clearance of goods.

HE Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, commented on this success saying: “We appreciate all the efforts made to achieve this international recognition and improve the Sultanate's business environment. The latest changes and updates in the Invest Easy portal played a major role in this success as we cancelled the request to provide proof of the company's capital at the beginning of the registration, the Article 5 and Article 11 in the commercial agencies Law and simplify the procedures for business registration records by allowing 76 electronic services through the portal.”

Dr Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, said: “This advanced ranking of the Sultanate is an international recognition from a leading organisation, The World Bank, that the provision of electronic services in doing business in Oman is moving steadily towards a big success internationally.”

Al Ruzaiqi added: “The Invest Easy project of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is one of the pioneering projects in this field and it deserves this international recognition. It is designed to provide electronic services to investors and entrepreneurs and owners of small and medium enterprises through a single window; in addition to simplifying and streamlining procedures and make the process of investing and doing business in the Sultanate easier with high quality and more transparent.”

Salma Khalfan Al Burtmani, Invest Easy Project Manager at ITA, said: “Invest Easy is a leading e-transformation project that has been implemented with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in order to facilitate the business environment in the Sultanate to be done online through a single window.

“This is the first portal that uses the e-signature service over the mobile phone provided by the National Digital Certification Center at Information Technology Authority. Through this service the beneficiary can complete some transactions completely after activating the electronic certification on mobile sim card.”

ITA is the agency in Oman charged with implementing Digital Oman, a strategy to transform the Sultanate of Oman into a knowledge-based economy for the achievement of social and economic benefits to Omani society.

Dubai Innovation Index places Dubai mid-way in global innovation push

• Buamim: This index serves as a compass for the companies to be creative and the public sector to identify the most innovative sectors and support their growth
• Al Ghurair: Innovation is critical for the sustenance of an economy and enhancement of its competitiveness
• Government has a pioneering role in launching initiatives
• Dubai ranked 16th among the world’s 28 leading innovation-driven cities

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has released the results of the first edition of the Dubai Innovation Index, introduced last year by the Chamber as part of its strategy to stimulate innovation and global practices in the private sector. The index showed medical care, media, marketing, IT, retail industrial sectors as the most innovative while professional services, agriculture, fisheries, construction and energy sectors turned out to be the least innovative in Dubai.

The report compares innovative cities at the global level, the perspectives of the private sector and includes an analysis of economic sectors in addition to comparisons and recommendations. Based on best international standards, the innovation index is developed inooperation with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and is a first of its kind index in the world to measure innovation in a growing economy.

According to the report, Dubai ranked 16th out of the 28 peer global cities which are currently considered the most prominent players in the field of innovation and creativity. It registered an innovation rate of 39.14% and ranked in 11th place for its efficiency in innovation outputs.

The report shows that Dubai scores above the average on the Government category, an indication that the government of Dubai is leading the march of innovation in the emirate while developing the right environment for innovation, but the report states that the private sector’s focus is on performance and its preference is for long-term strategies to promote innovation.

The report also shows Dubai’s leadership in the field of output and performance, particularly in the launch of new products and services and outputs of technology. However, intellectual property and opportunities for collaboration with institutions and economies for scientific work have emerged as areas for improvement as did cooperation between public and private sectors.

According to the index results, Dubai’s benchmark for innovation is in line with the outcome of the Global Innovation Index 2016 which shows the strengths of the emirate in infrastructure and information technology.

The Dubai Innovation Index recommendation has focused on the need to enhance the business policies and regulations governing the business environment in Dubai and the UAE in the area of ease of doing business. The Chamber has worked over the past year on various initiatives to enhance the business environment and advocate business policies to improve the business environment in the UAE, particularly in Dubai, to improve the UAE ranking in the Global Innovation Index 2016.

Since the launch of the index a year ago, Dubai has seen numerous initiatives launched including the Dubai Innovation Fund, the Ministry of Happiness, the Dubai Innovation Labs, the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Fund to Finance Innovation, Dubai Science Park, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Innovation Award, and the Dubai Innovation Week.

The result also addresses in detail enablers and outputs of innovation, which showed that the possibilities invested by the private sector does not meet the emirate’s ambitions and still need to be developed, compared to the government to invest in innovation and enablers which lead the march of innovation in Dubai.

The report points at the need to strengthen awareness-raising initiatives and exceptional efforts to increase the percentage contribution of the private sector in the total innovation efforts of the city of Dubai, in addition to the need for greater investment possibilities which is the basis for a more innovative future.

HE Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber, said: “Innovation is critical for the sustenance and development of an economy in a dynamic global environment as any business organisation which is slow to adopt innovation in its activities will find it difficult to match up with the demands of the future.

"Dubai was the first to launch an ambitious vision to become the world’s most innovative cities under the support and guidance of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Thankfully, under its wise leadership, Dubai today is one of the leading innovation destinations in the world.

“As a representative of the private sector, we are helping stimulate the innovation culture in the emirate’s business environment by encouraging the private sector to examine its strengths and weaknesses and to improve upon its shortfalls through a well-charted out action plan to march ahead in the process of innovation. To this effect, the Chamber-launched Dubai Innovation Index has successfully managed to put the private sector on the right track towards development in its innovative endeavours.”

HE Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, stated that as an essential part of its innovation strategy which is based on adopting innovation and excellence in all its activities, the Chamber is working to support the development of the emirate’s innovation environment and to stimulate the innovation culture in the business environment. This is also to strengthen the role of the private sector to keep pace and contribute to the growth of the emirate.

“The Dubai Innovation Index is an essential part of the innovation strategy launched by Dubai Chamber to promote and support the innovation in the private sector while also consolidating the Chamber’s reputation as one of the most innovative chambers of commerce in the world,” said HE Buamim.

“The index measures innovation in 28 cities, and is characterised by measuring innovation in the private sector and its impact on total innovation of Dubai as it compares the results of innovation in the emirate with leading global cities which are currently considered the most prominent players in the field of innovation and creativity.

“With 90% of Dubai’s private sector made up of SMEs, for whom being innovative is imperative, this index serves as a compass for these companies to be creative and innovative while encouraging them to grow in line with the emirate’s prevailing business environment. Also, this index helps the government to identify the most innovative sectors as well as the sectors that need support to build on their innovation strategy.”
The President and CEO of Dubai Chamber also said that the Chamber will focus more on raising the percentage of private sector contribution to innovation in the coming months as the index will help Dubai Chamber lay the foundation for a long-term strategy for the development of the private sector and to enhance the emirate’s competitiveness in the global rankings.

He also noted that the results of the index will be announced annually to gauge and promote the innovation environment in Dubai.

Anil Khurana, Strategy & Innovation Partner at PwC Middle East, said that the private sector businessmen’ views highlight that there is a great challenge to find and retain talent that facilitates innovation. The private sector also views creating and fostering an innovative culture in their organisations as a crucial step towards innovation.

The Chamber has already sent the questionnaire for the next session of the index to more than 57,000 companies from a variety of sectors in Dubai based on the recommendations of the first cycle of the Dubai Innovation Index. The results of the second edition of the index will be revealed during Innovation Week in November next year.

Qatar makes significant strides in Global Innovation Index 2016

Qatar is ranked first in the world on two indicators, Ease of Paying Taxes and Tertiary Inbound Mobility of International Students in the Global Innovation Index 2016, reports Qatar's Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The annual Global Innovation Index explores rising share of innovation carried out via globalised innovation networks and is themed Winning with Global Innovation. The report also concludes that there is ample scope to expand global corporate and public R&D cooperation to foster future economic growth. It is published by UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), INSEAD Business School and Cornell University.

The 2016 report highlights that gains from global innovation can be shared more widely as cross-border flows of knowledge and talent are on the rise. The Index, which measures performance of 128 countries on 82 indicators, placed Qatar third in the Arab world and 50th globally in the overall performance rankings.

Qatar advanced six positions on the Infrastructure pillar (ICT access and use), 10 positions on Market Sophistication and 28 positions on Business Sophistication, ranking 16th, 68th and 78th globally, respectively. Other wins for Qatar are - Electricity output (6th), University/industry research collaboration(8th), State of cluster development (8th), Joint venture/strategic alliance deals (8th) and Foreign direct investment outflows (16th).

Qatar is now ranked 52nd on Wikipedia edits and 46th on Video uploads on YouTube indicators within Online creativity sub-pillar. Qatar gained five ranks in Generic top-level domains and is now ranked 56th globally.

According to Qatar’s ICT Landscape Report 2016: Business, 13% of multinational ICT companies invested in R&D, with 8% of the local ICT companies investing in R&D activities in 2014. Among the ICT enterprises investing in R&D in Qatar, a majority (63%) of them spent less than 5% of their annual budget for R&D in 2014 in Qatar.

Source: Global Innovation Index. Top rankings for the Global Innovation Index.

Switzerland emerged as the global leader among innovative economies followed by Sweden, the UKm the US and Finland. Singapore at 6th place was the top-ranked Asian country and the only Asian representative in the top 10, with Korea coming in 11th.

Mainland China joins the ranks of the world’s 25 most-innovative economies for the first time, also the first time a middle-income country has joined the highly developed economies that have historically dominated the top of the Global Innovation Index through its nine years of surveying the innovative capacity of 100-plus countries across the globe, noted Cornell, INSEAD and WIPO.

"China’s progression reflects the country’s improved innovation performance as well as methodological considerations such as improved innovation metrics in the Global Innovation Index," they said in a statement. "Despite China’s rise, an 'innovation divide' persists between developed and developing countries amid increasing awareness among policymakers that fostering innovation is crucial to a vibrant, competitive economy."

“Investing in innovation is critical to raising long-term economic growth,” says WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “In this current economic climate, uncovering new sources of growth and leveraging the opportunities raised by global innovation are priorities for all stakeholders.”

Japan, the US, the UK, and Germany stood out in “innovation quality,” a top-level indicator that looks at the calibre of universities, number of scientific publications and international patent filings. China is 17th in innovation quality, making it the leader among middle-income economies for this indicator, followed by India which has overtaken Brazil.

Soumitra Dutta, Dean, Cornell College of Business and co-editor of the report, said: “Investing in improving innovation quality is essential for closing the innovation divide. While institutions create an essential supportive framework for doing so, economies need to focus on reforming education and growing their research capabilities to compete successfully in a rapidly changing globalised world.”

Bruno Lanvin, INSEAD Executive Director for Global Indices, and co-author of the report, emphasised, “Some may see globalisation as a trend in search of its ‘second breath.’ Yet, the relative contraction of international trade and investment flows does give even more strategic importance to the two sides of global innovation: on one hand, more emerging countries are becoming successful innovators, and on the other hand, an increasing share of innovation benefits stem from cross-border co-operation.”

Source: Global Innovation Index. Regional innovation leaders. In the Middle East, the UAE ranked first, followed by Saudi Arabia.

At the national level, the report says that innovation policies should more explicitly favour international collaboration and the diffusion of knowledge across borders. New international governance structures should also aim to increase technology diffusion to and among developing countries.

Johan Aurik, Managing Partner and Chairman of GII Knowledge at AT Kearney, the global consultancy, says: “Digital has become a primary driver of strategy development and innovation for business in almost all sectors; I am convinced we are only at the beginning. Notably for established organisations, the challenge lies in finding ways to successfully innovate by using and transforming existing resources and business practices. Realising success in today’s new landscape requires creative, forward-thinking strategies that embrace digital and address the need to change the fundamental ways of working in the company.”





Regional analyses include:

Central and Southern Asia

India, at 66th, is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia, showing particular strengths in tertiary education and R&D, including global R&D intensive firms, the quality of its universities and scientific publications, its market sophistication and ICT service exports where it ranks first in the world. India also over-performs in innovation relative to its GDP. It ranks second on innovation quality amongst middle-income economies, overtaking Brazil. Relative weaknesses exist in the indicators for business environment, education expenditures, new business creations and the creative goods and services production.

“The commitment of India to innovation and improved innovation metrics is strong and growing, helping to improve the innovation environment. This trend will help gradually lift India closer to other top-ranked innovation economies,” says Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Following India in the region are Kazakhstan (75th), the Iran (78th), Tajikistan (86th), Sri Lanka (91st), and Bhutan (96th).

Northern Africa and Western Asia

Of the top five Global Innovation Index performers in this region, two are from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): UAE (41st) and KSA (49th). Many of the GCC countries are diversifying their economies following a decades-long dependence on oil, turning their focus towards more innovation-driven and diverse sources of growth and overcoming relative shortcomings in areas, such as Institutions, market and business sophistication.

“Innovation no longer occurs in silos; today it crosses borders and relies on collaboration between various entities to create a win-win prospect. The UAE is harnessing a globalised strategy to lead innovation internationally through its Smart City agenda and bring about a greater degree of convenience and satisfaction, and ultimately happiness, for all,” says Osman Sultan, Chief Executive Officer, du.

Turkey ranks 4th in the region in 2016 and 42nd overall. The region shows its highest average scores in ICT access and ICT-driven business model creation, as well as in e-government, and productivity growth. The report also said many of the GCC countries are diversifying their economies following a decades-long dependence on oil, turning their focus towards more innovation-driven and diverse sources of growth and overcoming relative shortcomings in areas, such as Institutions, market and business sophistication.

Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania

Singapore (6th), Korea (11th), Hong Kong (14th), Japan (16th), and New Zealand (17th) lead the rankings in this region. The majority of innovation leaders in the Global Innovation Index are in this region, or in Europe.

Among upper-middle income economies, China (25th), Malaysia (35th), and Thailand (52nd) rank first in the region. Vietnam (59th) maintains its top place among lower-middle-income economies, followed by the Philippines (74th,) and Indonesia (88th). Low-income economy Cambodia maintains its ranking in the top 100 economies overall (95th).

The region’s strongest average performance is in the number of teachers per pupils and productivity growth, with lower scores in R&D financed by foreign firms, ICT services exports and imports, and intellectual property receipts.

Interested?

Read the Global Innovation Index 2016 report (also available in Chinese)