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When globalEDGE released its Market Potential Index (MPI) for 2011, it’s no surprise that Asian countries dominated the top of the rankings. For several years now, countries in Asia have been considered the leading emerging markets in today’s economic climate. This year, Singapore found itself as the highest rated emerging market in the MPI rankings. Looking at Singapore, there are several factors that contributed to its success in this year’s rankings.

Singapore was able to position itself as one of the fastest growing economies in the world for one key reason. With many assistance programs to encourage business expansion overseas, Singapore based companies were not limited by the size of the domestic market. Instead, companies were able to export overseas and were driven by external global demand. This trend allowed companies in Singapore to grow their investments and businesses abroad. Last year, overseas investments by local companies in Singapore totaled $31.7 billion marking a 9.7 percent increase in just one year. Singapore was also able to capitalize on the region’s overall growth due to its proximity and close ties with other Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

Along with Asia, Latin America is another region where emerging economies have shown great strength. According to a report by the United Nations, emerging markets in Asia and Latin America are continuing to lead the global economic recovery. In this year’s MPI rankings, the four Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru all moved up several positions. While growth in Singapore was driven by external foreign demand, domestic demand has driven growth for markets in Latin America as household wealth increases. However, Latin American countries are also seeing high external demand for certain commodities such as copper, corn, oil, and sugar. Latin America is also the only region to reduce its debt as other countries around the world continue to struggle with debt reduction.

As seen in this year’s globalEDGE MPI rankings, Asia and Latin America have shown strong growth prospects and improvements in their markets. The MPI provides a great tool for decision-making and finding the right market for your business. Be sure to check out the latest version of the MPI study here at globalEDGE!

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