South Korea leads the region in entrepreneurship, ahead of Singapore, Japan and China.

South Korea tops the region in entrepreneurship environment with a score of 54 per cent, according to the recently released Global Entrepreneurship Index. The country jumped three spaces up from the last year. The tech giant has been ahead of producing new technologies and introducing new products to customers. It is closely followed by Singapore and Japan with a score of 53 per cent and 52 per cent respectively.

China is ranked fourth in the region with a score of 41 per cent. China’s physical infrastructure contributes to the country’s score followed by its market dynamics. It is followed by Brunei and Malaysia that have as score of 34 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

India is ranked seventh in the region with a score of 28 per cent.

Despite various initiatives of the current government like “Make in India” the country is far behind as compared to other established regional leaders. According to the report the country’s strong areas are in product and process innovation, opportunity start-up, and robust competition in the marketplace. It is followed by Thailand, Philippines and Viet Nam.

Sri Lanka is ranked eleventh in the region. The country performed poorly in crucial indicators such as process innovation and technology absorption capacity, while performing above the global and regional averages in competition and product innovation. It is followed by Indonesia, Laos and Cambodia.

Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh are ranked lowest in the region with a score of 16 per cent, 14 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

According to the report, the region’s lowest scores on average are in the area of Risk Acceptance. "If countries in the region improve their overall risk profile as well as the populations’ attitudes towards taking risks, it is likely that the entrepreneurship ecosystems in the Asia-Pacific region will gain ground," reads the report. — ANN/VNS