Singapore is Asia's most connected country

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Singapore is Asia's most connected country, and is leading the region in terms of ICT development, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Singapore was the only Asian nation to reach the top 10 list in the WEF's latest  annual rankings - a list that was otherwise dominated by western nations, with Denmark taking the top spot, Sweden second, and the USA third.

A further five Asia-Pacific economies made it into the top 20, with Korea taking 11th place, Hong Kong 12th, Taiwan 13th, Australia 14th and Japan 17th. China leapfrogged 11 positions to 46th and India came in 54th in the list of 134 countries.

Chad was the lowest-scoring nation, followed by Timor-Leste and Zimbabwe. The Philippines was the lowest-placed in southeast Asia, scoring 85th.

Emerging markets are now home to 75% of the world's mobile subscribers, the report said, but succeeding in these markets requires different and innovative approaches to help tackle the specificities of these markets.

Emerging economies hoping to foster a strong mobile market needed to ensure sufficient competition, avoid direct price controls, attach strict coverage requirements and effectively manage spectrum allocation, the report said.

Top 20 countries:

1 Denmark
2 Sweden
3 United States
4 Singapore
5 Switzerland
6 Finland
7 Iceland
8 Norway
9 Netherlands
10 Canada
11 Korea
12 Hong Kong SAR
13 Taiwan
14 Australia
15 United Kingdom
16 Austria
17 Japan
18 Estonia
19 France
20 Germany