The Rapid Economic Growth of the Asia-Pacific Region, China is a Leader in Innovation and the most Attractive African Countries for Investors.
The IMF forecasts that the Asia-Pacific region’s GDP will rise by 4.5% by the end of 2025. The total contribution by the Asia-Pacific region to global economic growth in the current year will be 60%.
According to these data, India is demonstrating rapid growth rates: its GDP might go up by 6.6% by the end of the year. China is also developing better than the IMF initially forecast: the country’s GDP will increase by 4.8% in 2025, compared to the 4% expected in the spring.
Even so, IMF experts doubt that the Asia-Pacific countries will achieve the same results next year. India’s GDP growth is forecast to slow down to 6.2% by the end of 2026, and China’s to 4.2%. The reason is tension in trade relations with the United States, the biggest partner for many Asian countries. The only way for the Asia-Pacific region to maintain previous growth rates is to strengthen mutual trade within the region.
Experts from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis have drawn attention to China’s changing role in global innovation: from a country that copies advanced technologies, the PRC is becoming a world leader in innovative development. From 2015 to 2022, royalty payments from partners for Chinese intellectual property increased more than fivefold. Notably, the countries paying the highest royalties to China are developed economies with established innovation ecosystems and world-class companies.
The strengthening of China’s position in the scientific, technological, and innovation spheres is also noted by the OECD. According to experts, аuthors from the PRC account for about half of the most cited publications in energy journals. The number of environmental technology patent applications in China rose more than sixfold from 2010 to 2020 (in the USA and EU – by only 20%). Over the same period, Chinese venture capital invested in environmental development startups grew by 25% (in the EU, growth was 6%). So, China has gone “from a laggard to a leader in 30 years”, the OECD summarizes.
Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, The Changing Role of China in Global Innovation; OECD, Measuring Science and Innovation for Sustainable Growth.
In the two most recent studies by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), they are recognized as the Seychelles and Mauritius. Yet this is unexpected: for a long time, the leaders in attracting investment on the African continent were economies that were big by continental standards, such as Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco. Yet, the RMB’s analysis revealed an interesting trend: investors are increasingly preferring small countries with a stable economic model and effective governance, this likely being related to global political and economic uncertainty and the redirection of financial flows. So, for the second year running, the top positions in investment appeal have been held by the Seychelles and Mauritius. Egypt, South Africa, and Morocco were in third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively.
Source: RMB, Where to Invest in Africa, 2025.
These are the results of a large-scale survey of ten thousand expats conducted by the company InterNations. The top three countries are Panama, Colombia, and Mexico. Respondents noted the absence of difficulties in obtaining visas to these countries, a high quality of life at affordable prices, friendliness of the local population, ease of integration into the local culture, and a comfortable climate.
A tectonic shift is taking place in the global financial infrastructure, due to the development of DFA, an instrument allowing developing economies to leapfrog the stage of outdated systems and create more efficient and accessible capital markets, experts from the company Yakov and Partners and the Central University are convinced. Their joint research states that creation of a new mechanism for mutual investment between BRICS countries will boost investment and cut the cost of funding. This will provide an economic effect of up to USD 48 billion by 2030.
