There's a Wide Range of Development and Promise across the Region
The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations - known as ASEAN - comprises 10 nations
with a combined population of 600 million people and total GDP of $3.5
trillion.
The
population is about twice that of the US, with a total economy twice that of
India.
ASEAN
is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia, but strives to be unstintingly fair in
the distribution of its events, programs, and emphasis. The ASEAN region covers
a range of language, religion, governments, and culture that is breathtaking in
its scope.
Yet its
members' national leaders seem uniform in their commitment to regional
cooperation and peace. This can put the association at occasional odds with
Western powers when it treats Myanmar (former Burma) with the same
consideration as, say, the Philippines.
We've
been able to produce rankings for eight of the ASEAN nations in our research:
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and
Vietnam. We're missing only Brunei and Myanmar at this point.
Leaders
Among
the ASEAN nations, Vietnam ranks among the Top 10 in our overall global
rankings, Singapore among the Top 25. They are joined by the Philippines in our
Top 25 global measurement of raw potential.
In our
"Goldilocks" rankings, which seek to determine the Top 25 ICT environments
that are growing just right (neither too hot nor too cold), we find Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand.
So
we've found positive measures in each of the eight countries we've researched.
There are clear, often severe challenges in most of these places, of course. We
never want to minimize the difficulty of addressing those challenges.
Wide
Range
There
is also a wide range of ICT development throughout the region, from Singapore's
30Mb average bandwidth to less than 2Mb in the Philippines, and Singapore's 75%
Internet connectivity to Cambodia's 3.1%. Average income ranges across 1.7
magnitudes, as does the relative cost of living.
With
our relative approach to analyzing ICT environments, we find
that there are hopeful signs throughout the ASEAN nations. For example, cloud
computing is a big topic in the social- and mobile-driven cultures of the
Philippines and Indonesia; in Laos, where abundant hydroelectric power is
drawing investment in a place ripe for new datacenters; in cyber-centric
Malaysia; etc.
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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