NUMBER one last year, and again this year - Singapore is the world's most globalised country, says US-based magazine Foreign Policy.
Last year's top billing for global connectedness had been cited as a key reason - at last week's International Bar Association conference - Singapore was ideal as a venue to discuss cross-border and international legal issues. Senior IBA official David Rivkin made this point about the meeting.
Now, Singapore has again topped a list of 72 countries, in the magazine's latest issue, out at newsstands next week.
The magazine's annual Globalisation Index is done together with management consultancy A T Kearney.
An idea of the stiff competition Singapore faces is the emergence of Hong Kong, for the first time, as the Republic's closest rival. It edged Singapore in the economic integration category. The magazine, in its coming November-December issue, said these two top performers - in this category - 'leave other economies in the dust'.
'Economic integration is where these tiny economies flex their muscle.' Economic integration is measured by the trade and foreign direct investment levels.
Four categories are used to measure the overall index. The other three are: the level of personal contact, technological connectivity, and international political engagement. Several criteria are used in each group to measure the level of openness.
Singapore was ranked second and third on the economic and personal contact fronts respectively. In terms of technological connectivity, it dropped to 15th, from 12th position last year.
For international political engagement, it is ranked 40th - based on such factors as contributing to United Nations peacekeeping efforts.
It ranked first based on the overall tally of the categories.
This is the fourth time since the rankings began in 2001 that Singapore has topped the overall list.
Singapore kept its place despite 'stiff competition' that saw many countries previously ranked high fall off, said the report.
The United States dropped four places from last year to rank seventh while Australia slipped five places to 13th in the overall rankings.
The 72 countries in the latest study, based on data in 2005, make up for 88 per cent of the world's population and 97 per cent of the world's gross domestic product.
'Size matters,'' says the report, noting that eight of the top 10 countries are smaller than the US state of Indiana. The reason? 'Because, when you're a flyweight, globalising is a matter of necessity,'' it said, citing Singapore and Holland.
'To be globally competitive, these countries have no choice but to open up and attract trade and foreign investment.''
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