City’s efforts to create business friendly environment give it edge over rival Singapore and former champion, the US
NIKKI.SUN@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Monday, 30 May, 2016, 2:08pm
Professor Arturo Bris, director of the IMD, valued the city’s gateway role for foreign direct investment in mainland China. Photo: AFP
Hong Kong has reclaimed its spot as the world’s most competitive economy in 2016 thanks to its consistent commitment to make itself a favourable business environment, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Centre.
The annual survey, based on an analysis of 61 places across the world, found Hong Kong jumped one place to the top as the city had “encouraged innovation through low and simple taxation and imposed no restrictions on capital flows”.
The result came after another study released in April found Hong Kong slipping to fourth while Singapore climbed one place to third among 86 financial centres surveyed for their global competitiveness.
Hong Kong claimed the top spot in the 2012 IMD rankings, but lost it to the United States for the next three years. Rival Singapore – which ranked fourth in the same survey – was the only other Asian region to make it to the top 10 this year.
Professor Arturo Bris, director of the IMD, said the city’s efforts to create a business friendly environment had been central to its ability to defy regional challenges.
He also valued the city’s gateway role for foreign direct investment in mainland China, “the world’s newest economic superpower”, enabling business there to access global capital markets.
In contrast, former champion the US was no longer able to maintain its dominance, falling to third place in this year’s survey, behind Switzerland.
Hong Kong overtaken by Singapore as third leading global financial centre
Many major Asian countries, including Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia, suffered significant declines from their 2015 positions, dragged down by the fall in commodity prices, a strong dollar and deterioration of balance sheets in both private and public sectors, Bris said.
Despite Hong Kong reclaiming the top spot, the organisation pointed out that the city would face challenges in the coming year, such as nurturing innovation, encouraging technological adaption to upgrade productivity, and addressing the fiscal implications posed by an ageing population.
The survey, based on responses from more than 5,400 business executives, analysed over 340 criteria derived from four principle factors, including economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/1959161/hong-kong-reclaims-crown-worlds-most-competitive-economy
