MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile drops in most globalized countries ranking

Chile fell nine spots in the 2007 Globalization Index, compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the management consulting firm AT Kearney. Additionally, Chile is no longer the most globalized Latin American country, as Panama and Costa Rica jumped to higher spots on the list

Chile slipped to 43rd on the list of 72 countries, falling from its 34th place finish in 2006. Of Latin American countries, Panama was first at 30th on the list and Costa Rica second, at 39th overall. After Chile came Mexico at 49th, Colombia at 50, Argentina at 54, Peru at 58, Brazil at 67 and Venezuela at 68. Meanwhile, the Index considers Singapore, Hong Kong and the Netherlands are the three most globalized countries in the world. Singapore topped the list for the third consecutive year. Hong Kong appeared for the first time on the list, followed be the Netherlands, which jumped four spots from last year. AT Kearney said the improvement was based largely on the merger of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and Britain's Shell Transport and Trading Company – a deal which helped to increase foreign direct investment outflows for the Netherlands by more than 590 percent from the previous year. Switzerland and Ireland were fourth and fifth, followed by Denmark and then the United States, which fell four spots from last year, due to slow business growth and the decrease of foreign investments in the country. Still, the high level of technological connectivity kept the United States in the top ten. Jordan and Estonia, two other countries appearing in the rankings for the first time, were in the ninth and tenth position on the list. The goal of the Globalization Index is to determine the level of globalization of the various countries, in the broadest sense of the word, measuring 12 variables in four categories: economic, personal, technological and political integration. The countries appearing on the list represent 97% of the world's GDP and 88 of the world's population. The Santiago Times