US-based think tank, the Heritage Foundation, has lauded Taiwan’s economic freedom. The director of the foundation’s Center for Trade and Economics, Terry Miller, arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday to give a detailed report on the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom.
This is the first time the foundation has released its economic freedom report outside of the United States or Hong Kong since launching in 1994. Taiwan recorded its best-ever performance in the survey, moving up three places to No. 14 out of 178 economies.
Terry Miller said Taiwan tops the list of the countries that have achieved their highest economic freedom score ever. He said the improvement shows that the government’s efforts to open up the market and implement financial reforms have yielded results.
“This is a very special list of countries and this will begin to explain why we have come to Taiwan this year to launch the index of economic freedom," said Miller. "We have 37 countries in the index this year that have achieved their highest economic freedom score ever. And at the top of that list is Taiwan, and that’s exactly why we have come here, to help celebrate the advancement of economic freedom in Taiwan. And you can see some other countries here that have also achieved their highest scores ever.”
Taiwan’s score was the fifth-best in the Asia-Pacific region, following Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia. Taiwan’s score is higher than Japan and South Korea, and well above the world average.