[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Stands much below than China, Pakistan
Hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Davos to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday, the world body ranked India at 62nd among the emerging economies on an inclusive Development index. Though India’s position dropped by two places compared to last year’s rank (60) at the WEF’s yearly index, the country still lies much below China (26) and Pakistan (47).
The WEF released its yearly index on emerging economies just before its annual meeting which is expected to be attended by several world leaders including PM Modi and United States President Donald Trump. G-20 Heads of States and Nations are scheduled to attend the meeting along with over a thousand corporate CEOs.
According to the WEF, the index is measured taking into account the “living standards, environmental sustainability and protection of future generations from further indebtedness”. Stating that the reliance on GDP to measure economic achievement is triggering short-termism and inequality, the WEF had urged world leaders to shift to a new model of inclusive growth and development.
The 2018 index measures the progress of 103 economies, which are divided into two parts – 29 advanced economies and 74 emerging economies. The measures are made on the basis of three individual pillars – growth and development; inclusion; and inter-generational equity. Lithuania once again topped the list as the fastest emerging economies; on the other hand Norway stays as the most inclusive advanced economy in the world.
The WEF index deals more classified into five sub-categories, which measures the five-year trend of the overall inclusive development of each country. The five sub-categories include receding, slowly receding, stable, slowly advancing and advancing. Though the overall position of India depicts a low inclusive development, the country still remains on the top 10 emerging economies with ‘advancing’ trend.
While the top of the WEF index is dominated by the small European countries, Australia (9) is the only non-European country to make its place in the top 10. Other countries include Germany (12) ranks the highest. It is followed by Canada (17), France (18), the UK (21), the US (23), Japan (24) and Italy (27).
Among the top-five most inclusive emerging economies are Lithuania, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Poland.
However, India’s position lies even below other neighboring countries like Nepal (22), Bangladesh (34) and Sri Lanka (40). Other small countries which ranked over India include Mali, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Ghana, Ukraine, Serbia, Philippines, Indonesia, Iran, Macedonia, Mexico, Thailand and Malaysia.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]