Among the five Asian countries hit by a crippling financial crisis two years ago, Malaysia and Korea rank highest according to a "future preparedness index" that quantifies future growth potential, while Indonesia suffered the most.

The Daewoo Economic Research Institute (DERI) published a report yesterday which studied the five crisis-hit countries in Asia South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines-based on four indices: preparedness for the future, stability, pain and activity.

On the "future preparedness index" based on investment and consumption rates and export and import recovery, Malaysia came out on top, scoring 22 points, followed by Korea (20), the Philippines (17), Thailand (16) and Indonesia (15).

Malaysia obtained 25 points to top the "stability" index, which is based on credit ratings and external debt reduction, while Korea received 21 points, Thailand 20 points, and the Philippines 19 points. Indonesia brought up the rear with 8 points.

Meanwhile, Indonesia was worst hit of the quintet, scoring a high of 15 points on the "pain" index, which reflected degraded living standards including reduced gross national product (GNP), rising consumer prices and an increasing unemployment rate.

Korea and Thailand shared the second spot at eight points, while Malaysia and the Philippines fared relatively well.

On the index for "activity", representing the trend in gross national product (GNP) and the speed of economic recovery, the Philippines was the highest at 16 points, followed by Korea (15), Malaysia (13), Thailand (11) and Indonesia (5).

Korea's economy recovered by 11.8 percentage points, the fastest among the five when their quarterly growth rates at the height of the economic turmoil were compared with those of the first four months of this year.

Malaysia's recovered by 10.5 percentage points, while Indonesia improved by 9.1 percentage points and the Philippines 3.1 percentage points.

All in all, Indonesia underwent the severest hardships, while Korea's suffering, despite the improved stability and activity indices, was relatively higher according to the DERI report.