Vietnam’s economic freedom jumps 5 notches to 139th
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Vietnam is rated the world's 139th freest economy in a 2011ranking released Wednesday by the U.S.-based Heritage Foundation, up from 144th last year.
The country’s economic freedom scores 51.6 out of 100, a 1.8 point rise over last year, according to the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom report by the Washington-based institute.
The higher score reflects Vietnam’s monetary and business freedom, it said.
However, the Southeast Asian country’s overall score is still below the world average of 59.7.
Out of 41 countries in the Asia–Pacific region, Vietnam ranks 30th.
The report says the country needs improvement in regulatory environment, judiciary, bureaucracy, legal system, and anti-corruption.
Hong Kong is rated the world's freest economy for a 17th straight year, followed by Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland.
The largest economy - the United States - fell to the 9th freest from an 8th spot last year while China stands at 135th.
North Korea is bottom of the list, ranking 179th with a score of 1.0 while Zimbabwe is in the 178th place. Meanwhile, Afghanistan, Iraq, Liechtenstein and Sudan are unranked.
The 2011 Index of Economic Freedom reports on economic policy developments since the second half of 2009 in 183 economies. Based on 10 measures that evaluate openness, the rule of law, and competitiveness, the Index ranks economies according to their economic freedom.
The ten components include business freedom, trade freedom, fiscal freedom, government spending, monetary freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom, property rights, freedom from corruption, and labor freedom.
Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is a think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies.
