Israel leads while Philippines and Indonesia lag on venture fund’s list
TOKYO — Eight of the 10 safest places to ride out the coronavirus pandemic are in the Asia-Pacific region, including mainland China, according to new research released on Tuesday.
Pockets of South and Southeast Asia face serious risks, however, including the Philippines.
Deep Knowledge Ventures, a Hong Kong-based venture capital fund that targets health care and longevity technology, is evaluating the crisis performance of 150 countries and territories in an ongoing project.
How countries respond today, the fund believes, will determine their appeal as investment and business destinations tomorrow.
“The countries that will be able to provide long-lasting protection for their citizens, and stay stable, they will to some extent automatically attract financial activity,” Dmitry Kaminskiy, DKV’s founder and managing partner, told the Nikkei Asian Review.
Israel stands in first place, unchanged from a previous safety ranking, earning 632.32 points out of a possible 700 thanks to its small territory, sophisticated health care, savvy use of technology and strong military. But the latest edition puts Germany in second place, up from ninth, while South Korea cracks the top three, up from 10th.
Then comes a list of Asia-Pacific neighbors: Australia, China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong.
DKV, best known for appointing an AI algorithm to its board, is scoring countries based on more than 70 criteria and data from a range of sources, including the World Health Organization…