SINGAPORE, Dec 13: China and Bangladesh are forecast to be Asia’s fastest-growing economies in 2002 as the region’s more advanced nations reel from the impact of the US-led global slump, a report said on Thursday.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 7.4 per cent next year and Bangladesh at 6.2 per cent.

Vietnam, which is forecast to grow 5.8 per cent, is the only other Asian country in the list of the world’s top 20 fastest growing countries, said the EIU, the business information arm of the London-based Economist Group.

Japan and Singapore were grouped in the list of the 20 slowest-growing nations, along with the United States, Argentina, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, among others.

Singapore’s GDP was forecast to contract by 0.5 per cent next year and Japan would shrink 1.1 per cent, it said in a statement summarising its world report for 2002.

“Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines will also be held back by the poor international environment, in addition to problems with domestic economic reforms.”

Equatorial Guinea is seen to be the fastest growing country in the world next year, with GDP expected to rocket by 34 percent “due to rapid expansion of its oil sector,” it said.

Zimbabwe was identified as the worst performing country with its economy seen falling by 5.0 percent.

World growth is projected at 1.4 percent next year, from an expected 1.2 percent this year, and compared with 3.9 percent posted in 2000.

“A key prediction this year is that a strong US recovery will be delayed until the second half of 2002, but several regions will achieve respectable growth despite America’s troubles,” the EIU said.

The region encompassing Russia and the central Asian republics — dubbed “transition economies” by the EIU — is expected to the world’s fastest-growing with expansion forecast at 3.8 percent for 2002 from 4.4 per cent this year and 6.2 per cent in 2000.

Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to expand 3.6 percent next year, buoyed by rising oil production, to become the next fastest-growing region and improve on its projected growth of 2.8 percent this year.—AFP