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Asia’s most and least powerful passports
If you have citizenship in Singapore, Japan and Malaysia, you have a great deal of travelling power.
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What is the most powerful passport in Asia? (Shutterstock/File)
S
ingaporean passports have been ranked the most powerful passports in Asia and world's second-most "powerful" passport, according to a worldwide ranking for passports.
Singapore has overtaken South Korea and has become the highest ranked Asian passport with a visa-free score of 157.
Worldwide, Germany stands at the top with a visa-free score of 158, according to the research conducted by financial advisory firm Arton Capital which has ranked different passports based number of countries each passport holder can visit without a visa, or where they can obtain a visa on arrival. The index looks at 193 countries and six territories. Germans have the most powerful passports in the world, offering visa-free access to 177 countries and territories out of a total of 218.
Other Asian countries in the top 10 list are Japan (155), Malaysia (154), South Korea (153), Hong Kong (140) and Brunei with a score of 134.
Indonesia ranks 69 with a score of 58, below Philippines, which ranks at 67 with a score of 60.
At the bottom of the list, labelled countries with the "worst passports," are Pakistan, at 26 followed by Sri Lanka (35), Bangladesh (35) and Nepal (37). While China and India rank low at 57 and 46 as per index ranking.
According to John Hanafin, CEO of Arton Capital, "The desire to improve opportunity and security transcends borders. As such, having a second citizenship has never been more relevant."
In recent years, citizenship by investment has become a billion dollar industry, with over 20,000 investors seeking a second residency or citizenship around the globe very year.
