China will be the fastest growing major emerging market at a projected 7.5% GDP growth rate in 2009, which represents significant easing after more than five years of blistering double-digit growth rates. Likewise, India is poised to be one of next year’s best-performing economies on the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) list of the 20 fastest-growing countries in the world, although India’s pace of growth will slow to 6.1% according to the EIU annual guide 2009.

The growth forecast for the Philippines, one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia last year, is at a much slower rate of 1.8% in 2009. Government estimates for next year are at 3.7% to 4.7%. The country’s GDP hit a 31-year peak of 7.2% last year and it is estimated to end 2008 with about 4.6% growth.

Painting a grim scenario of global economic prospects, the UK-based EIU noted that the financial crisis would continue to have a very damaging impact on the world economy which is predicted to grow 0.9% next year.

29 countries are projected to undergo economic contractions in 2009, including the US, Japanese, Euro zone and UK economies. Iceland is perched atop the EIU’s list of the 20 slowest-growing economies in the world.

Asia’s worst affected economy will be Taiwan, which is predicted to shrink 2.9% in real GDP growth next year. The economies of the other three original ‘Asian Tigers’ — comprising of Singapore (-2.2%), South Korea (-1.7%) and Hong Kong (-1%), are also expected to falter and feel the bite of the global chill in 2009.

The Taiwan government’s Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics had earlier provided a growth forecast of 2.12% for next year. The EIU figure is a sharp downward revision from its previous forecast in mid November when it predicted 1.3% growth for Taiwan in 2009.

In 2009, the EIU is predicting export-reliant Singapore to be the world’s 9th slowest-growing economy at 2.2% contraction – more bearish than the government’s worst-case projection of -1% decline. At this point, the Republic’s official growth forecast for next year is a three-point range of up to 2% growth.