Hong Kong Tops U.S. as Most Competitive Nation

[beijingwalker]

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Hong Kong Tops U.S. as Most Competitive Nation
Despite slipping a spot in the rankings, the U.S. is still vital to boosting the global economy

By Meg Handley
18/06/201

The United States is no longer the most competitive nation in the world, a title it once shared with this year's champion, Hong Kong.

The U.S. slipped to second in this year's World Competitiveness rankings, compiled by the IMD World Competitiveness Center, giving sole bragging rights to Hong Kong.

Despite losing ground in this year's rankings, the United States remains at the center of world competitiveness "because of its unique economic power, the dynamism of its enterprises, and its capacity for innovation," the report from the Lausanne, Switzerland-based IMD School of Business said.

No other nation exerts such a strong "pull effect" on the world's economy, the report said, underscoring the political and economic turmoil in Europe and the fact that emerging markets still don't have the infrastructure to drive the world's economy.

"Everybody is looking at the U.S. to become the locomotive of the world economic recovery again," says Stephane Garelli, director of IMD's World Competitiveness Center. "Europe is not in very good shape and the emerging markets realize that they are not sufficiently developed to lead without the U.S. and European economies."

The United States also has economic ties with virtually every economy in the world, which makes the direction of its economy crucial to others.

"Every country has business and investment and trade with the U.S.," Garelli says. "That means when the U.S. economy is going up, it's pulling with it everybody else."

Being responsible for propping up the world's economy seems like a tall order, but the global economy has become a lot more complex and nuanced according to Garelli. There's no denying that globalization has increased over the past several decades, but in the wake of the one of the worst financial crises in history, that interconnectedness has become more fluid.

"The recession has made the global economy more fragmented. Globalization was about synchronization and now it goes into every direction," Garelli says. "Globalization isn't everything anymore. We're not going into protectionism, but there's an economic nationalism and an effort to build your national champions and go back into reindustrialization."

In other words, a country's ability to produce and market products domestically will be crucial to its competitiveness, and the "national context will be more and more important," Garelli adds.

That's been partly true for the U.S., where manufacturing has been credited with much of the early steam behind the economic recovery. It's since tapered off, but the renewed vibrance of the automotive industry has been one example of the reinvigoration of manufacturing in the United States.

It's also been a central component in President Obama's economic platform, "An Economy Built to Last," which has highlighted an increased willingness of companies to move manufacturing operations back to the United States from lower-wage competitors such as China and Mexico.


The biggest headwind for the United States and many other governments is the issue of mounting public debt, a factor that contributes to a country's competitiveness rating. But the true problem with public debt won't necessarily be at the federal level, Garelli says.

"In the U.S. the states have problems, cities have problems," he says. "You start to go layer by layer and then you discover that something is very disquieting there because when Washington has a problem, they can print money. But when California, for example, has a problem, they can't."

"That makes a hell of a difference," he adds.

Hong Kong tops world competitiveness rankings < HR Story | Expatica The Netherlands

stupid western media,Hongkong is a Chinese city,not a nation.

Hong Kong tops The Globalization Index for the second consecutive year

Hong Kong, 16 February 2012 – The Globalization Index 2011 released by Ernst & Young in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) shows that Hong Kong ranks the highest level of globalization among 60 largest economies in the world for the second consecutive year.

Agnes Chan, Regional Managing Partner, Hong Kong and Macau of Ernst & Young says, “Hong Kong retains its position as the most globalized economy in the world.

Hong Kong tops The Globalization Index - Ernst & Young - China

Hong Kong named world's top financial centre‎
Posted By: TOE, NEW YORK
2011-12-14 02:53:16

"Milestone" for Asia as Chinese city beats New York and London in influential annual survey of world financial centres. AFP

Hong Kong - Hong Kong has become the first Asian country to top an annual survey of the world's most developed financial systems.

The World Economic Forum released its annual report on Tuesday. The report says Hong Kong's rank was bolstered by strong scores in the non-banking financial services such as initial public offerings and insurance.

It is the first time the United States or Britain have not ranked number one since the Geneva-based non-governmental organization began the survey four years ago.

The United States fell to number two, but maintained its overall score. Britain slipped to number three with a drop in its overall score due to a decline in initial public offerings activity and securitization .

World Economic Forum officials say this report should serve as a “wake-up call” to Western financial centers that “their long-term leadership may be in jeopardy.”

Hong Kong jumped three spots to take the lead, while Singapore, Australia and Japan maintained their top ten rankings. Several other Asian countries, including South Korea, also jumped in the ranking of the world's top 60 financial systems.

[shuttler]

HK also tops the list of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation since 1997 handover


Index of Economic Freedom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[beijingwalker]

Hong Kong tops global health index
16 Nov 2011

Hong Kong, Osaka, Tokyo and Singapore – all high-income Asian cities – come out on top of a new study of 129 world metropolitan regions.

The study by LSE Cities is part of new research being launched today at the Urban Age Hong Kong ‘Cities, Health and Well-being’ conference, organised by the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society, in partnership with the University of Hong Kong.

Combining data from the UN and other sources usually only available at national level, the study gives a snapshot of how health, education and wealth vary in 129 city regions across five continents totalling 1.2 billion people. Taking into account life expectancy and child mortality, and other health indicators, the study reveals that western European cities like Stockholm, Paris and Berlin fare better than North American counterparts, but lag behind cities in developed Asian regions.

The findings confirm that urban dwellers in Hong Kong are likely to live to an average age of 82.5 years, a few months more than Parisians (82.3 years) but nearly two years more than Londoners (80.6 years) or New Yorkers (80.9 years). Residents of Tokyo or Singapore can expect to live to 82.4 years and 80.7 years respectively. But differences can also be pronounced within world regions: Ho Chi Min City’s residents reach the much lower average age of 74. In South America, one of the most unequal regions of the world, the urban dwellers of La Paz in Bolivia live to 63.3 years while in the nearby Lima, the capital of Peru, life expectancy reaches 76.4 years.

Another key finding of the study is that the health of residents in cities globally is better than their national averages. Even though the residents of Johannesburg only live to an average age of 51 – reflecting the tragic consequences of AIDS – efforts to provide access to universal education and healthcare means that they have longer life expectancy than most people living in South Africa as a whole. Those living in Mumbai and New York, for example, do better than national averages in India and the USA, as do residents of Beijing and Shanghai compared to the rest of mainland China.

Commenting on the findings, Ricky Burdett, Director of LSE Cities and Urban Age said, “To date, urbanisation has been associated with improvements in income levels and health outcomes. However, the pressures of urban growth have contributed to the emergence of stark social and health inequalities in cities of the developed and developing world. With 70 per cent of the world’s population forecast to be living in urban areas by 2050, global well-being will increasingly be determined by the health of urban dwellers.”

Hong Kong tops WEF's financial stability index


Tue Dec 13, 2011 9:43am EST

ZURICH, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong has muscled its way to the top of the World Economic Forum's Financial Stability Index, overtaking the United States and the United Kingdom for the first time, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The United States slipped to second place in the ranking of the world's leading financial systems and capital markets, although its overall score was unchanged from last year.

The United Kingdom fell to third place due to lower scores on securitisation and IPO activity, the Financial Development Report said.

The report, launched in 2008, analyses financial development including the efficiency and size of banking and other financial services, the business environment, financial stability, and the extent of financial disclosure and market liberalisation in each centre.

Hong Kong, which jumped from fourth place last year, has capitalised on a regulatory crackdown on the finance sector in the United States and Europe and on its proximity to China to lure more financial services to its shores.

"Hong Kong's ascent to the top of our index marks a major milestone, the first time in the report's history that the United Kingdom or the U.S. didn't come out on top," said Kevin Steinberg, chief operating officer of the World Economic Forum (WEF) USA.

"While Western financial centres are understandably focused on short-term challenges, this report should serve as a wake-up call that their long-term leadership may be in jeopardy," he said.

Singapore was ranked fourth, followed by Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan respectively. Nigeria was bottom of the list with Venezuela not far behind.

China rose three places from last year to 19th whereas euro zone countries slipped in the rankings as they struggled to contain their debt crisis, including Germany which dropped one place to 14th.

More than 90 percent of countries have not returned to pre-crisis levels in terms of ease of access to credit and loans, venture capital availability and financing through local equity markets, according to the latest report.

"The challenge will be how to encourage economic activity while not fuelling the next credit bubble, which could cause severe consequences down the line," said Isabella Reuttner, senior project manager at the World Economic Forum and editor of the report.

"Therefore, when looking for possible solutions, decision-makers should not lose sight of the long-term consequences while they fix the short-term situation."

The Financial Development Report ranks 60 countries, analysing drivers of financial system and capital market development that support economic growth.

The World Economic Forum said the index aimed to serve as a tool for advanced and emerging economies to benchmark themselves and identify areas for reform. (Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Susan Fenton)

[Chinese-Dragon]

Hey guys, thanks for posting so many nice things about my city.

But we are all in this together. We should hope for the best for ALL Chinese cities.

[Hello_10]

China is set to lead this world within just 5-6 years time, the time world will start looking on China for High Tech Products which will be offered for low price also than OECD economies due to their high labor cost. its also the time when we would now accept Yuan as a World Currency, as its only China who has as much foreign reserve that they may stabilize the would be world currency, the Yuan.

we have list of the most competitive countries as below:


World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012:



The most competitive nations in Europe are Switzerland (3), Sweden (5) and Germany (9), which have export-oriented manufacturing and fiscal discipline. Meanwhile, Ireland (20), Iceland (26) and Italy (40) look better equipped to bounce back than Spain (39), Portugal (41) and Greece (58), which continue to scare investors.

Emerging economies are not yet immune to turmoil elsewhere. China (23), India (35) and Brazil (46) have all slipped in the rankings, Russia (18) climbed only one place. All Asian economies have declined apart from Hong Kong (1), Malaysia (14) and Korea (22). Latin America also had a tough year, with every nation falling except Mexico (37).

World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012: Hong Kong, US and Switzerland most competitive of 59 nations; Ireland rises to 20th ranking

[WS-10 Engine]

great to see hong kong doing well. lots of love.
i believe we need to learn more from hong kong about economic liberalization which makes hong kong so competitive.

we need to combine the financial markets of hong kong, advanced technolgy of taiwan and massive consumer market in mainland.
imagine a combination of all that.

[Chinese-Dragon]

great to see hong kong doing well. lots of love.
i believe we need to learn more from hong kong about economic liberalization which makes hong kong so competitive.

we need to combine the financial markets of hong kong, advanced technolgy of taiwan and massive consumer market in mainland.
imagine a combination of all that.

I will surely see full Chinese reunification in my lifetime.

We should also remember that the Chinese mainland alone, already has more economic and technological capability than either HK or Taiwan.

Hong Kong is strong on a per-capita basis, but our city only has 7 million people. The total GDP of Hong Kong SAR is around $250 billion, whereas the total GDP of mainland China is $7.3 trillion.

The true power of the Chinese civilization always comes from the mainland, as it has done throughout history.

[Chinese-Dragon]

Anyway, Shanghai is currently the richest city in China.

We lost that title a while back.

[shiv]

China is set to lead this world within just 5-6 years time, the time world will start looking on China for High Tech Products which will be offered for low price also than OECD economies due to their high labor cost. its also the time when we would now accept Yuan as a World Currency, as its only China who has as much foreign reserve that they may stabilize the would be world currency, the Yuan.

we have list of the most competitive countries as below:


World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012:



The most competitive nations in Europe are Switzerland (3), Sweden (5) and Germany (9), which have export-oriented manufacturing and fiscal discipline. Meanwhile, Ireland (20), Iceland (26) and Italy (40) look better equipped to bounce back than Spain (39), Portugal (41) and Greece (58), which continue to scare investors.

Emerging economies are not yet immune to turmoil elsewhere. China (23), India (35) and Brazil (46) have all slipped in the rankings, Russia (18) climbed only one place. All Asian economies have declined apart from Hong Kong (1), Malaysia (14) and Korea (22). Latin America also had a tough year, with every nation falling except Mexico (37).

World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012: Hong Kong, US and Switzerland most competitive of 59 nations; Ireland rises to 20th ranking

What ? where is pakistan ? Even obscure and minnows like Philippines, Jordan, Greece and Estonia are there ?

[Hello_10]

Anyway, Shanghai is currently the richest city in China.

We lost that title a while back.

my our work place in Australia, we usually used to call Shanghai, the Capital of Asia

[Hello_10]

What ? where is pakistan ? Even obscure and minnows like Philippines, Jordan, Greece and Estonia are there ?

We find competitiveness in only 4 Muslim nations, the Malaysia, the Kazakhstan, the Turkey, the Indonesia and lower ranked but somewhere, the Jordan. and interestingly, the above 4 Muslim nations are just not hardliners, very liberal, while in fact Jordan is also said to be enough liberal. we need a society where the first priority is education, not religion, to make the nation competitive on technology side.

otherwise West have legacy of winning different wars in 18th, 19th century with WW1 and WW2, and then hiring talent of rest of the world. but we hope to get the economic ranking of countries like till 18th century soon

List of regions by past GDP (PPP) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[beijingwalker]

Hongkong,the king of the kings.

[beijingwalker]

my our work place in Australia, we usually used to call Shanghai, the Capital of Asia

Tianjin is the fastest growing city in China,Shanghai is being overtaken now and Beijing is always my favorite.

[26-K]

Nice to see my home city doing well

[manojb]

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Congrats Hong kong!!
Has anyone watched 'johar mahmood i hong kong' old bollywood comedy movie! Its on youtube... one of my chilhood fav.