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Monday, February 27, 2012

Singapore, Brunei, HK among 15 richest in the world

MANILA, Philippines - Three developed economies in east and southeast Asia made it to the 15 richest countries in the world.

Singapore, Brunei and Hong Kong ranked 3rd, 5th and 8th, respectively, in Forbes magazine's latest list of The World's Richest Countries .

Forbes said it looked at gross domestic product (GDP) per capita adjusted for purchasing power for 182 nations. "The PPP (purchasing-power parity)-adjusted GDP, preferred by economists when making international comparisons, takes into account the relative cost of living and inflation rates rather than just exchange rates, which may distort real differences in worth," according to the Forbes report.

It used International Monetary Fund data from 2010.

Forbes noted that many of the most well-heeled countries rely on natural resources to fill their coffers.

Like oil- and natural gas-rich Brunei, Norway, which ranks fourth, is one of the world's largest gas exporters and depends on petroleum-related sources for over half of its exports.

Three Middle East countries - Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - bank on oil and gas for around 1/4 of their individual economies.

Singapore and Hong Kong made it to the list on account of their technology and finance services.

Forbes also noted that the wealth in some countries are not equally distributed, citing the case of Qatar, which is on top of the list.

“In Qatar, for example, the way it’s distributed is very unequal, and much of the population is actually very poor. The GDP is high because of oil revenues. And, if I were to use the GDP as an indicator of how well a country will do in the future, in Qatar what will matter is how well they actually invest it.”

Qatar, which will host the 2022 Football World Cup and is also in the running for the 2020 Olympic Games, has been a high-profile investor in recent times.

Some Qatari companies have investments in the Philippines, including Liberty Telecommunications, which has launched wi-tribe broadband service.

Below are the rest of the 15 richest countries in Forbes' list. - Rappler.com

Source: www.forbes.comSource: www.forbes.com

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