Hong Kong no.1 in World Competitiveness Rankings

[beijingwalker]

World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012: Hong Kong, US and Switzerland most competitive of 59 nations

By Finfacts Team
May 31, 2012 - 7:23 AM

IMD, the Swiss business school, today announced the findings of its annual World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY). The WCY 2012 rankings measure how well countries manage their economic and human resources to increase their prosperity. The most competitive of the 59 ranked economies in 2012 are Hong Kong, the US and Switzerland. Despite all its setbacks, the US remains at the centre of world competitiveness because of its unique economic power, the dynamism of its enterprises and its capacity for innovation. Ireland's ranking has risen from 24th in 2011 to 20th place in 2012.


"US competitiveness has a deep impact on the rest of the world because it is uniquely interacting with every economy, advanced or emerging. No other nation can exercise such a strong 'pull effect' on the world. Europe is burdened with austerity and fragmented political leadership and is hardly a credible substitute, while a South-South bloc of emerging markets is still a work in progress. In the end, if the US competes, the world succeeds!" said Professor Stephane Garelli, director of IMD's World Competitiveness Center.

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, while Russia (48) 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).

Globalization and economic reform under threat

One-third of the 329 ranking criteria come from an exclusive IMD survey of more than 4,200 international executives, which reveals a growing skepticism in some of the 59 economies toward globalization and the need for economic reforms (see charts).

Globalization is still seen as a positive development in Ireland, Scandinavia, Chile, the UAE and many Asian economies. But attitudes are much more negative in Greece, Russia, most of Eastern Europe, a growing part of Latin America, and, last of all, in France.

IMD says attitudes toward reforms are more positive in Ireland (not true in respect of Irish domestic reforms), emerging Asia, Qatar and the UAE, Switzerland and Sweden. But the impetus for reform is much weaker in Argentina, the Czech Republic, Spain, and lastly – again – in France, where austerity is seen as a cure worse than the disease.

"The recession has made the world economy more fragmented and diverse than ever, forcing companies to operate several parallel business models," said Professor Garelli. "Emerging economies are relying on domestic demand and national champion companies to insulate themselves from economic turmoil, while the "submerging" developed economies are turning to re-industrialization. In both cases, economic nationalism is back and protectionism is tempting."

Ireland

IDA Ireland, the State inward investment agency "welcomed the news that the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012 ranks Ireland very favourably in a number of key areas important for Foreign Direct Investment."

"The influential data, used by global companies, location consultants and professional firms, highlights that Ireland possesses an extensive pool of highly skilled graduates available to a range of industries, among them ICT, life sciences, financial services and digital media. Executives in the survey pinpoint Ireland’s skill base as a key attraction of the country as an inward investment location."

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

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Hong Kong!!!!!

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[Banglar Lathial]

Do you live in Hong Kong?

 

[RayKalm]

How is Venezuela ranked 59th when their economy has fallen over the previous years?

Can I get a list that goes beyond 59?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Do you live in Hong Kong?

Born and bred in Hong Kong.

The only thing I can complain about is that the weather is HOT and humid. So I often take vacations in the more Northern parts of China.

I knew HK was competitive, but number 1 in the world, that is a surprise.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

Born and bred in Hong Kong.

The only thing I can complain about is that the weather is HOT and humid. So I often take vacations in the more Northern parts of China.

I knew HK was competitive, but number 1 in the world, that is a surprise.

That's good to know. Do you consider the cost of living and doing business in Hong Kong very high? I know that accommodation is very expensive in Hong Kong? In my view, Hong Kong is better than most Western countries in terms of development for me.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

That's good to know. Do you consider the cost of living and doing business in Hong Kong very high? I know that accommodation is very expensive in Hong Kong? In my view, Hong Kong is better than most Western countries in terms of development for me.

Property costs are quite high, yes.

However, the "cost of living" is very good compared to Western nations. (Even despite having a similar income to them.)

Hong Kong has a higher HDI ranking then even Western European countries such as Britain/France/Spain, and we also have a lower cost of living than they do.

So high costs are only really a problem if you are looking to buy property here. "Ease of doing business" is very good, and we have some of the LOWEST tax rates in the entire world.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

Property costs are quite high, yes.

However, the "cost of living" is very good compared to Western nations. (Even despite having a similar income to them.)

Hong Kong has a higher HDI ranking then even Western European countries such as Britain/France/Spain, and we also have a lower cost of living than they do.

So high costs are only really a problem if you are looking to buy property here. "Ease of doing business" is very good, and we have some of the LOWEST tax rates in the entire world.

That sounds like a slightly larger version of Singapore to me, except that Singapore is more boring and less democratic. Is pollution/haze a problem?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

That sounds like a slightly larger version of Singapore to me.

Yep, we compare ourselves with Singapore all the time.

(Though in fairness I would say Singapore is much cleaner, they have serious drive to be as clean as possible.)

If you would like to come and do business or live in Hong Kong or Singapore, I wish you the best of luck. We could always use more friendly people over here.

Is pollution/haze a problem?

In places like Sham Shui Po, it can be a problem. However it's generally alright if you stay clear of the really smoggy areas.

 

[Roybot]

http://www.imd.org/research/publications/wcy/upload/scoreboard.pdf

 

[Banglar Lathial]

Yep, we compare ourselves with Singapore all the time.

(Though in fairness I would say Singapore is much cleaner, they have serious drive to be as clean as possible.)

If you would like to come and do business or live in Hong Kong or Singapore, I wish you the best of luck. We could always use more friendly people over here.



In places like Sham Shui Po, it can be a problem. However it's generally alright if you stay clear of the really smoggy areas.

Thank you for the offer though I hear that discrimination against Bangladeshis is widespread and widely accepted in Singapore, Hong Kong and similar countries. Has the situation changed now? Apart from that, Hong Kong sounds more appealing to me than Singapore. You know Singapore and its monotonous lifestyle and top-down government controlled structure.

I will have to look into it. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Thank you for the offer though I hear that discrimination against Bangladeshis is widespread and widely accepted in Singapore, Hong Kong and similar countries. Has the situation changed now? Apart from that, Hong Kong sounds more appealing to me than Singapore with its monotonous and top-down government controlled structure.

I will have to look into it. Thank you for the suggestion.

That's right, Hong Kong is not as strict as Singapore, for example they banned chewing gum in Singapore, while they don't ban that kind of stuff in HK.

In fact, they hardly ban anything in HK. And they hardly tax anything either (no VAT for example), so it is quite relaxed compared to Singapore.

As for racism, yes there is some, however that mostly happens due to barriers in communication. Nowadays, people in HK and Singapore can speak English fairly well, moreso in Singapore, so you shouldn't have any serious communication problems.

It must be said that some people in HK are quite uncomfortable speaking English, because they are worried that they will get it wrong. So they may try to avoid people who cannot speak Cantonese... which may come off as rude to outsiders.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

That's right, Hong Kong is not as strict as Singapore, for example they banned chewing gum in Singapore, while they don't ban that kind of stuff in HK.

In fact, they hardly ban anything in HK. And they hardly tax anything either (no VAT for example), so it is quite relaxed compared to Singapore.

As for racism, yes there is some, however that mostly happens due to barriers in communication. Nowadays, people in HK and Singapore can speak English fairly well, moreso in Singapore, so you shouldn't have any serious communication problems.

It must be said that some people in HK are quite uncomfortable speaking English, because they are worried that they will get it wrong. So they may try to avoid people who cannot speak Cantonese... which may come off as rude to outsiders.

Thanks for the explanation but there is more to it, and it's not just racism. I mean, when they see me, most of them don't think of me as a Bangladeshi (in their minds, they have a certain image of a Bangladeshi, so they do not imagine that I can be a Bangladeshi), but as soon as they hear/know that I am a Bangladeshi, sometimes they behave differently, usually they become somewhat suspicious or aloof upon finding the nationality, but not before it.

My concern is not that much about racism, and besides, it's not like backward Western countries where racism is part of life, and gangs go on to beat people of other races if they happen to be (perceived as) 'weaker'. Racism is not that much of an issue, but I think (quite rightly) Bangladesh and other poor countries' are treated with some degree of suspicion, in general, because of lack of information and/or some other issues due to past experiences by those citizens.

I do not care much about English proficiency anyway. Is Cantonese the most frequently used language in Hong Kong?

Oh I think I should have congratulated Hong Kong for this 'achievement' though we should always take any ranking prepared by Westerners with a grain (or more) of salt. In particular, we should notice that a lot of these rankings are subjective, which is why countries like India rank so high. A considerable weight is allocated to that part of the survey where citizens of certain countries rank their own countries. As Indians and Americans tend to be deluded into thinking that everything about their countries are just about perfect by their propaganda ministries and media, their rankings continue to be higher than they should be year after year.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

By the way, I like Hong Kong, its airport, ease of doing business, its role as a gateway to China, a developed economy, great public transportation and infrastructure. Except the high costs of accommodation, I like pretty much all other factors about Hong Kong lest somebody misunderstand me.

 

[Roll in deep]

Singapore rank 4th....not bad..