30 nations that are best geared for economic change

Around the world, countries, businesses and institutions are undergoing unprecedented change with new challenges and opportunities every day. Keeping this in mind, KPMG's study – 2012 Change Readiness Index assesses these countries' on their ability to manage change and cultivate opportunity in the future.

Thus, instead of focusing on a country's performance to date, the study takes a forward-looking perspective by capturing the underlying factors that are likely to determine a country's capability for managing change that we hypothesise will support sustained growth in the long-term, according to KPMG.

For this a set of indicators were identified as influencers on a country's underlying capability to manage change. These factors being: Economic capabilities, Governance capabilities and Social capabilities.

So take a look to find out which countries are ready to welcome the change:

Note: Score is a sum total of: Economic capabilities, Governance capabilities and Social capabilities.

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Chile

Ranking: 1

Score: 0.73

Chile has made considerable efforts in recent decades to diversify their export structure with noticeable impacts on economic growth.

Its competitive position is also supported by high levels of domestic and foreign competition and by an efficient financial market.

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Tunisia

Ranking: 2

Score: 0.72

According to KPMG, Tunisia's second place ranking, as a country that has been through civil struggle and recent political changes, arguably supports the notion that the indicators included in the Index should help inform a country's ability to leverage and manage change.

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Taiwan

Ranking: 3

Score: 0.71

Taiwan has a developed capitalist economy that ranks as the 19th largest in the world by Purchasing power parity (PPP).

Further, traditional labour-intensive industries are steadily being moved off-shore and replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.

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Jordan

Ranking: 4

Score: 0.70

The economy of Jordan is robust and growing. It is now one of the freest and most competitive economies in the Middle East scoring higher than the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

Jordan is an emerging knowledge economy. Education reform, continued privatisation and economic liberalisation, and economic restructuring are ensuring the path to a knowledge-based economy.

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Kazakhstan

Ranking: 5

Score: 0.67

The economy of Kazakhstan is the largest economy in Central Asia. It possesses enormous oil reserves as well as minerals and metals. It also has considerable agricultural potential with its vast steppe lands accommodating livestock and grain production, as well as developed space infrastructure.

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Morocco

Ranking: 6

Score: 0.62

Morocco's economy is considered a relatively liberal economy governed by the law of supply and demand.

The economic system of the country presents several facets. It is characterized by a large opening towards the outside world.

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Malaysia

Ranking: 7

Score: 0.61

The Malaysian Government has been working to improve the business environment, fight crime and corruption and enhance infrastructure and transport. It is also planning for a transition towards a high income, innovation-led economy going forward.

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Uruguay

Ranking: 8

Score: 0.61

Economy of Uruguay is characterised by an export-oriented agricultural sector, a well-educated work force, and high levels of social spending.

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Turkey

Ranking: 9

Score: 0.58

Turkey has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment and the privatisation of publicly owned industries, and the liberalisation of many sectors to private and foreign participation has continued amid political debate.

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Peru

Ranking: 10

Score: 0.58

The economy of Peru is classified as upper middle income by the World Bank and is the 42nd largest in the world. Peru is an emerging, market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade.

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Botswana

Ranking: 11

Score: 0.56

Botswana's impressive economic record has been built on a foundation of diamond mining, prudent fiscal policies, international financial and technical assistance, and a cautious foreign policy.

It is rated the least corrupt country in Africa, according to an international corruption watchdog, Transparency International.

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Costa Rica

Ranking: 12

Score: 0.54

Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then. After 6.2 per cent growth in 1997, GDP grew a substantial 8.3 per cent in 1999, led by exports.

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China

Ranking: 13

Score: 0.54

As an emerging and developing economy that derives mostly from the export-oriented manufacturing sector, Chinese economy at the present is dominated by the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).

Further, the market-oriented reforms China has implemented over the past two decades have unleashed individual initiative and entrepreneurship, whilst retaining state domination of the economy.

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Syrian Arab Republic

Ranking: 14

Score: 0.54

Syria is a middle-income country, with an economy based on agriculture, oil, industry, and tourism.

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Namibia

Ranking: 15

Score: 0.53

The country's sophisticated formal economy is based on capital-intensive industry and farming. The Namibian economy has a modern market sector, which produces most of the country's wealth, and a traditional subsistence sector.

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Colombia

Ranking: 16

Score: 0.53

Colombia has a free market economy with major commercial and investment ties to the United States. The main farming activities of Colombia are coffee, sugar, bananas, cotton and meat. Transition from a highly regulated economy has been underway for more than a decade.

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Algeria

Ranking: 17

Score: 0.52

Algeria's economic freedom score is 51, making its economy the 140th freest in the 2012 Index. The government is taking efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector.

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Ghana

Ranking: 18

Score: 0.51

Ghana's strong growth has been achieved within a sound macroeconomic environment. The private sector has responded positively to the government's development programs and the improved business environment. The rise in bank lending and capital inflows suggests increasing investor confidence.

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Lithuania

Ranking: 19

Score: 0.51

Having moved away from central planning system in the late 1980s, in 1990, Lithuania was the first to break away from the Soviet Union and become an independent capitalist economy.

In the last quarter of 2009 Lithuanian economy rose moderately by 0.1 per cent, however the Finance Ministry of Lithuania forecasts that Lithuania's economy will keep growing by 1.6 per cent in 2010 and by 3.2 per cent in 2011.

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Zambia

Ranking: 20

Score: 0.49

Zambia's economy has experienced strong growth in recent years, with real GDP growth in 2005-11 more than 6 per cent per year.

Privatisation of government-owned copper mines in the 1990s relieved the government from covering mammoth losses generated by the industry and greatly increased copper mining output and profitability to spur economic growth.

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Mexico

Ranking: 21

Score: 0.48

The economy of Mexico is the 13th largest in the world in nominal terms and the 11th by purchasing power parity, according to the World Bank.

It has a free market economy in the trillion dollar class. It contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture, increasingly dominated by the private sector.

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Sri Lanka

Ranking: 22

Score: 0.48

The main economic sectors of the country are tourism, tea export, apparel, textile, rice production and other agricultural products. In addition to these economic sectors, overseas employment contributes highly in foreign exchange, 90 per cent of expatriate Sri Lankans reside in the Middle East.

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India

Ranking: 23

Score: 0.47

India's medium-term growth outlook is positive due to a young population and corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings and investment rates, and increasing integration into the global economy.

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Nicaragua

Ranking: 24

Score: 0.47

The US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been in effect since April 2006 and has expanded export opportunities for many agricultural and manufactured goods.

Textiles and apparel account for nearly 60 per cent of Nicaragua's exports, but increases in the minimum wage during the ORTEGA administration will likely erode its comparative advantage in this industry.

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Panama

Ranking: 25

Score: 0.47

Panama's economy is based primarily on a well-developed services sector that accounts for nearly 80 per cent of its GDP.

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South Africa

Ranking: 26

Score: 0.47

South Africa, unlike other emerging markets, has struggled through the late 2000s recession, and the recovery has been largely led by private and public consumption growth, while export volumes and private investment have yet to fully recover. The long-term potential growth rate of South Africa under the current policy environment has been estimated at 3.5 per cent.

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Jamaica

Ranking: 27

Score: 0.45

Jamaican Government economic policies encourage foreign investment in areas that earn or save foreign exchange, generate employment, and use local raw materials.

Further, the Government of Jamaica hopes to encourage economic activity through a combination of privatization, financial sector restructuring, reduced interest rates, and by boosting tourism and related productive activities.

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Kenya

Ranking: 28

Score: 0.45

Compared to its neighbors, Kenya has a well-developed social and physical infrastructure. It is considered the main alternative location to South Africa, for major corporations seeking entry into the African continent.

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Mongolia

Ranking: 29

Score: 0.44

Economic activity in Mongolia was traditionally based on herding and agriculture - Mongolia's extensive mineral deposits, however, have attracted foreign investors, and the country is undergoing an economic transformation through its mining boom.

Indonesia

Ranking: 30

Score: 0.44

Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and is one of the emerging market economies of the world. Fitch also predicted that economy will grow at least 6.0 per cent on average per year through 2013, despite a less conducive global economic climate.