Hong Kong and Singapore offer Asia's friendliest environments for Internet-based business, reflecting their governments' strong support for electronic commerce, a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) showed.
In contrast, the lower rankings of other Asian countries such as Thailand and China are a reminder of how telecommunications monopolies, the absence of state-led initiatives and poverty can hold back an economy from leveraging the commercial potential of the Internet, it said.
In a global survey of 60 countries, with 10 as the best possible score, Hong Kong led the region with a score of 8.20 points in "e-readiness," which placed the territory in 10th position along with Canada, behind world leader Sweden.
Hong Kong's economic archrival Singapore was ranked 12th with a score of 8.18 points followed by South Korea in 16th position with 7.80 points, the London-based EIU said.
At the lower end of the spectrum, Malaysia occupied 33rd spot, followed by Thailand, 42nd, and India, a software leader, 46th with the Philippines one place behind.
Emerging Asian economic powerhouse China was ranked 50th, Indonesia placed 53rd and Vietnam was a further three spots behind.
The EIU's annual rankings report, now into its fourth edition, defines e-readiness as the "extent to which a market is conducive to Internet-based opportunities."
It takes into account a number of factors including the quality of information technology (IT) infrastructure, government initiatives and the commercial efficiencies provided by the Internet.
Asia's top performers all displayed common traits including sound IT infrastructure, high per capita income, significant telecoms deregulation, falling transaction costs, pro-active government approach to e-commerce, good education systems and openness to trade and ideas, the EIU said.
"Asian governments view the Internet as key to gaining a competitive edge in the regional and global marketplace, and they are making increasingly ambitious plans," it said.
"In addition to creating policies that support e-business, Asian countries are bringing e-business into government itself," the EIU said.
For example, residents in Hong Kong can carry out many of their government-related transactions in cyberspace, such as paying taxes and making appointments with immigration authorities.
Of Asia's three leading e-commerce economies, South Korea is making the fastest progress in the race to exploit the commercial opportunities arising from the Internet, the EIU said.
"The saturation of densely populated urban commercial and residential districts with cheap telephone and broadband networks put South Korea in a unique position to exploit e-commerce," the EIU said.
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