INFRAESTRUCTURAS LIVING IN THE ACTUAL COUNTRY HE STUDIED ARCHITECTURE, ECONOMICS, AND URBAN PLANNING, HE WON THE EISENHOWER SCHOLARSHIP AND HE UNDERSTANDS WHY SOME CITIES ARE SUCCESSFUL AND SOME AREN’T. THIS BACKGROUND IS AT THE CORE OF HIS BRILLIANT PROPOSALS FOR SINGAPORE AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD HEARTS Alfonso VegaraHONORARY CONSUL GENERAL FOR SINGAPORE IN SPAIN “The dynamism of Southeast Asia is spectacular” Meritocracy and youth. This combination of demographics and quality education explains the region’s accomplishments and presages what it will achieve as its labor force becomes increasingly qualified. Even the movie industry has focused its lenses on the education systems of South Korea and Singapore, which top the education rankings and are an inspiration to their neighbors. The foundation: rigorousness and well-trained, well-paid teachers. In Singapore, a secondary school teacher earns 36,000 euros per year plus additional allowances. In the PISA report, the country dominates areas like mathematics, science, and reading, and the budget for education is the second-biggest in the country, with programs focused on English, math and science. It takes a forward-looking approach, because leadership in the digital economy involves attracting tech talent. That’s precisely why Hong Kong is launching a program to attract students from the world’s top 100 universities. THE BEST INVESTMENT: YOURSELF You can live mired in stereotypes, or you can go to the actual country and discover... Diverse nations in a diverse region: 165 languages are spoken in the Philippines alone. Its main export: integrated circuits. Singapore’s population has the fifth-highest life expectancy in the world, 83.7 years, and it’s the ninth most peaceful nation, according to the Global Peace Index. Indonesia has more islands than any other place on Earth: 17,508. Some Bajau divers can stay under water for up to 13 minutes and reach depths of more than 70 meters. What country is the world’s second-biggest exporter of coffee? No one would guess: Vietnam, with an export revenue of 5 billion dollars in 2021. Hong Kong cut its CO2 emissions per capita from 5.3 tons in 2019 to 4.5 in 2020, a record low. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) could appreciate 14% in 2023, fueled by tourism growth. Although the population is generally young, there are countries with a low birth rate like South Korea which are aiming to attract immigrants by fostering education and good job opportunities.