Asia has been the world's fastest-growing region for the past two decades, and this trend looks set to continue, albeit at a slower pace. As a result, Asian economies and companies have been transformed. In 2015-2016, four Asian economies ranked in the world's top five in terms of competitiveness and innovation: Hong Kong and Singapore for competitiveness in 2015; and Japan and South Korea for innovation in 2016. In this year's Fortune Global 500 list of companies, four Asian companies -- State Grid Corp. of China, Sinopec Group, China National Petroleum Corp. and Toyota Motor -- dominate the top five positions.
Underlying this remarkable achievement has been the growth of Asia's educated workforce, which reflects the region's increased access to education and the rise in the quality of its universities and business programs. Seven of the top 30 business schools named in the Financial Times are in Asia -- China Europe International Business School (better known as CEIBS), INSEAD, HKUST Business School, Nanyang Business School, National University of Singapore Business School, Indian School of Business and the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
