The 2019 Lowy Institute Asia Power Index is an analytical tool to track changes in the distribution of power in the region. Vietnam, Malaysia, and New Zealand are the most improved middle powers over the past year. The report said Vietnam has made rapid progress in strategic and economic spheres. It also said Vietnam has made the most of multilateral arrangements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and ASEAN  to boost its economic diplomacy and regional trade ties. The institute highly values Vietnam as a future hotbed of human resources.

The US topped the list, followed by China and Japan.

Lowy came up with the power index using publicly available sources and its own resources.

A country’s overall power is its weighted average across eight measures of power-economic resources, military capability, resilience, future trends, diplomatic influence, economic relationships, defense networks and cultural influence.