Country Checklist

• Asia-Studies Full-text Online provides access to full text reports published by the region's prestigious research institutions such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Asian Development Bank, Institute of Policy Studies Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Southeast Asia Research Centre, and so on. It covers 53 countries and on a range of business, government, economic, and social issues. Country coverage includes all of Asia, Australia/New Zealand, the Americas Pacific Rim countries, and Pacific islands. Key Indicators provided are taken from the annual statistical publication of the Asian Development Bank.

• EIU Country Reports examine the political scene, economic policy, domestic economy, sectoral trends, foreign trade & payment of the country. Coverage: Selected countries only. [Updated monthly]
• EIU Country Profiles analyse the country's history, politics, infrastructure & economy, including an annual perspective on the long-term political and social issues affecting the country. Coverage: Selected countries only. [Updated annually]

• Encyclopaedia Britannica provides geographical, economic, social, government, historical and cultural information about the countries. Country Comparison features maps, flags, statistics & events of any two countries of choice. World Data provides snapshots of country data in pdf format and includes a feature to create tables and charts.

• ISI Emerging Markets (Asia) provides macro-economic analysis of countries in addition to news, company and industry information, and financial market data. Countries covered include Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

• MarketLine Business Information Centre provides country profiles that cover industry, political & economic analyses plus macro-economic demographic data of the country.

• Business Source Premier (EbscoHost) has country publications such as Country Monitors by Global Insight; Country Profiles by Datamonitor; EIU Country Profiles, Country Reports & Country Commerce (6 months embargo); Country Review Reports by CountryWatch; Emerging Markets Monitor & Asia Monitor by Business Monitor International; Background Notes from the US Department of State; Political Risk Yearbook by PRS Group. These publications are also accessible via e-Journals.
  
  Tips: Do a basic keyword search in Business Source Premier using the country name as a search term and then select "Country Reports" to view the publications.

• SourceOECD is the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) online library of statistical databases, books and periodicals.

International Organisations

• World Bank
  Countries & Regions: Select the country of interest and browse the various reports under Publications & Reports and indicators under Data & Statistics.

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
  Browse various ADB documents and publications in Regions and Countries. Published annually, the The Asian Development Outlook provides a comprehensive economic report on the developing member countries. The Country Economic Review assesses current economic situation and performance of the country, and analyses its short- and medium-term economic prospects.

• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
  Country Information: Browse IMF reports & publications by country. IMF World Economic Outlook Reports are published twice a year (April and September) and analyse the world economic developments during the near and medium term.

• International Organizations' Archives, developed by UNESCO Bangkok using Google Custom Search. It searches the full text of documents published mainly by the UN agencies which are deposited in their archives. The agencies include Asian Development Bank (ADB); Official Documents System of the United Nations (ODS); International Monetary Fund (IMF); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); World Bank (WB); World Trade Organization (WTO); and so on.

Government Organisations

• Export.gov: Country Commercial Guides
  Irregular updates, the Country Commercial Guides are prepared for US companies and accessible via the Market Research Library. Tips: Select country of interest in the Country field and "Country Commercial Guides [CCG]" under Report Type.

• CIA WorldFact Book
  Guide to Country Profiles provides basic information about the country's demography, geography, government, economy, military and infrastructure.

• Background Notes from the US Department of State. Includes facts about each country such as its geography, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, foreign relations, and so on.

• Country Profiles, prepared by the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the site provides a general overview of the country, including its history, recent political developments, relations with the international community and bilateral political and commercial relations with the UK.
  

Other Free Websites

• Country Profiles from the BBC News, provide instant guides to the country's history, politics, economic background and information of key institutions.

• Country Briefings from the Economist, contain selected contents from the Economist Intelligence Unit's country data and information.

• Global Gateway maintained by the Library of Congress. The Country Studies series describes and analyses the historical setting, socio- economic, political, and national security and institutions of countries. Portals to the World features links to Internet resources that provide information about countries.

• Country Insights from the globalEDGE is developed by the Center for International Business Education and Research at the Michigan State University.

Databases subscribed by library

• Asia-Studies Full-text Online provides key Indicators drawn from the annual statistical publication of the Asian Development Bank.

• EIU Market Indicators & Forecasts is a database of global market indicators and forecasts running from 1990. Other than the 5 year industry forecasts, it has long term economic outlook and projections of key economic variables till 2030. It covers economic, demographic, consumption and industry data of 60 major markets worldwide.

• EIU Country Finance (Asia Pacific Countries) provides a comprehensive guide to the financial systems of a country. Topics covered in each report include cash management and short-term investment options; bank and non-bank credit; equity and debt financing; and markets for stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives.

• Global Development Finance provides external debt and financial flow data for the 136 countries in World Bank's Debtor Reporting System. It covers time series for 217 indicators from 1970 to 2013 where available, indicators available include external debt stocks and flows, major economic aggregates, key debt ratios, etc.

• International Financial Statistics from IMF, provides annual, monthly, and quarterly financial and economic time series for more than 200 countries and over 40 regional and special groups of countries. Current data on exchange rates, international liquidity, international banking, money and banking, interest rates, prices, production, international transactions, government finance & national accounts.

• SourceOECD (OECD) is the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) online library of statistical databases, books and periodicals.

• UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN) provides commodity trade data for all available countries and areas since 1962.

• World Development Indicators (World Bank) provides statistical data for over 600 development indicators and time series data for over 208 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators.

International Organisations

• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
  Economic & Statistics - Key indicators is an annual statistical publication of ADB which presents the economic, financial and social data on the developing member countries of ADB.

• IMF World Economic Outlook Databases contain selected macroeconomic data series from the statistical appendix of the World Economic Outlook reports, including data on national accounts, inflation, unemployment rates, balance of payments, fiscal indicators, trade for countries and country groups (aggregates), and commodity prices as reported by the IMF. Data are available from 1980 to the present with two year projections.

• United Nations
  United Nations Statistical Division
  Statistical Databases from UN, some of which are free for access while others require subscription.
  
  UNCTAD Statistics (UN Conference on Trade and Development) provides links to online databases & statistical publications such as Development and Globalization: Facts and Figures , the Handbook of Statistics , the World Investment Directory , and so on. Country Fact Sheets - Provides recent data on FDI flows and stocks, mergers and acquisitions, largest TNCs and regulatory changes for 188 economies.

National Statistical Offices

• National Statistical Offices Website
  Maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division, the website provides links to the national statistical offices' websites worldwide.

Central Banks

• Central Bank Websites
  Maintained by the Bank for International Settlements , an international organisation which aims to foster international monetary and financial cooperation between central banks of countries. The website provides links to the central banks of a list of countries.

Embassies & Consulate

• EmbassyWorld.com
  For searching embassies & consulates worldwide.

• Global Competitiveness Report (GCR)(World Economic Forum)
  By the World Economic Forum, GCR was first published in 1979 and is an annual assessment of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of national economies. The WEF has since adjusted its methodology for measuring competitiveness and developed a new competitiveness model called the Global Competitiveness Index (CGI). The factors used to compute the CGI are grouped into nine pillars: Institutions, Infrastructure, Macroeconomy, Health and primary education, Higher education and training, Market efficiency, Technological readiness, Business sophistication, and Innovation.
  
  Available in the library:
  The global competitiveness report
  Location: Reference
  Call Number: R HF1414 GCR

• World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY)(IMD)
  By the IMD International. Started since 1989, WCY is an annual study & ranking of countries in terms of their ability to create and maintain an environment that sustains the competitiveness of enterprises. The ranking is computed based on over 300 indicators which measure different facets of competitiveness and are broadly grouped into four main areas: Economic performance, Government efficiency, Business efficiency, and Infrastructure.
  
  Available in the library:
  The world competitiveness yearbook
  Location: Reference
  Call Number: R HF1414 WCY

• Global Information Technology Report (GITR) (World Economic Forum)
  First launched in 2001, the GITR is used as a benchmarking tool to determine the ICT strengths and weaknesses of countries and for evaluating progress. The Networked Readiness Index (NRI) was developed "to measure the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from ICT developments".
  
  Available in the library:
  The Global information technology report
  Location: Reference
  Call Number: HC59.72.I55 GITR

• Doing Business (World Bank & IFC)
  By the World Bank & the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. The published reports and papers focus on the regulatory obstacles to new business creation in countries. The Doing Business Economy Rankings compare the business regulations and their enforcement in countries and rank countries based on the ease of doing business.

News Sources

• Factiva
  A single interface for searching across over 9,000 sources, including major national & international newspapers, newswires, magazines, broadcast transcripts, websites.

• Economist.com [Update frequency: Weekly]
  Economist.com is a leading weekly magazine covering global business and politics. The website includes the archive of articles published since 1997 from the print edition of The Economist magazine, and 2000 to current issues come complete with graphs, tables and pictures. The content of The Economist is available online by 6pm GMT on Thursday.

• Lexis Nexis
  Provides access to the full text of magazines, newspapers, news wires, broadcast transcripts, legal reports from international sources and U.S. federal and state courts, laws and regulations, company directories and other government information.
  

Journal/Magazine Sources

• EbscoHost Research Databases
  Academic Search Premier
  Provides full text for over 3,600 peer-reviewed journals and coverage includes computer sciences, language & linguistics, arts & literature, psychology, religion and theology, etc.
  Tips: Conduct a basic search by country & refine search results by using subjects.
  
  Business Source Premier
  Has full text of business journals including more than 1,100 scholarly business publications and coverage includes management, economics, finance, accounting, international business, etc. Some of the country publications found in the database include:
  • Country monitors by Global Insight
  • Country profiles by Datamonitor
  • Country profiles, country reports & country commerce by EIU (with 6 months embargo)
  • Country review reports by CountryWatch
  • Emerging Markets Monitor & Asia Monitor by Business Monitor International, which provide political & economic analysis with specific asset class forecasts for over 64 emerging markets globally
  • Background Notes from the US Department of State
  • Political Risk Yearbook by PRS Group which contains country forecasts, country conditions & more

Tips: Do a basic search by country & refine search results by using subjects.

• Proquest

  ABI/Inform Complete (Proquest)
  Covers all aspects of the broad area of business, applied economics and law.

  Academic Research Library
  Covers a broad range of academic subjects such as arts, education, health, humanities, law, military, multicultural, psychology, social sciences and more.

• Asia-Studies Full-text Online
  Provides access to over 8,000 full text reports by the region's prestigious research institutions such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Asian Development Bank, Berkeley APEC Study Center, Institute of Policy Studies Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Japan Focus, Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, and so on. It covers 53 countries on a range of business, government, economic, and social issues. Key Indicators provided are taken from the annual statistical publication of the Asian Development Bank.

• Bibliography of Asian Studies
  Contains over 610,000 records on all subjects (especially in the humanities and the social sciences) relating to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide. Citations to journals, book chapters, etc are from 1971 to the present..