Hong Kong no.1 in World Competitiveness Rankings

[Chinese-Dragon]

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.

If it is any consolation, Hong Kong has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the world, next to Japan. Even if someone didn't like you for some reason, they don't just beat people up like they might do in the West.

Even the Triad gangs care more about business than street fights, and they wouldn't attack foreigners anyway. (Bad for business).

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

Yes, Cantonese is the lingua franca in Hong Kong. Although Mandarin and English will work as well if necessary.

For Singapore, it is Mandarin and English. And much of the "Singlish" slang is in Hokkien.

But English speakers will usually get along fine in both HK and Singapore. If someone doesn't speak English, they will usually be able to find someone who can.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

If it is any consolation, Hong Kong has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the world, next to Japan. Even if someone didn't like you for some reason, they don't just beat people up like they might do in the West.

Even the Triad gangs care more about business than street fights, and they wouldn't attack foreigners anyway. (Bad for business).

That is very true, I think the Triad situation may be exaggerated in HK media and movies. Is that so?

Yes, Cantonese is the lingua franca in Hong Kong. Although Mandarin and English will work as well if necessary.

For Singapore, it is Mandarin and English. And much of the "Singlish" slang is in Hokkien.

But English speakers will usually get along fine in both HK and Singapore. If someone doesn't speak English, they will usually be able to find someone who can.

Very true, considering both HK and SG are cosmopolitan 'international' cities with international outlooks. I know some Cantonese words anyway, I am not worried about that. Besides, I can tell when people are shy/not confident of speaking to a foreigner and when people are suspicious of me.

If it is any consolation, Hong Kong has one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the world, next to Japan. Even if someone didn't like you for some reason, they don't just beat people up like they might do in the West.

Even the Triad gangs care more about business than street fights, and they wouldn't attack foreigners anyway. (Bad for business).

That is very true, I think the Triad situation may be exaggerated in HK media and movies. Is that so?

Yes, Cantonese is the lingua franca in Hong Kong. Although Mandarin and English will work as well if necessary.

For Singapore, it is Mandarin and English. And much of the "Singlish" slang is in Hokkien.

But English speakers will usually get along fine in both HK and Singapore. If someone doesn't speak English, they will usually be able to find someone who can.

Very true, considering both HK and SG are cosmopolitan 'international' cities with international outlooks. I know some Cantonese words anyway, I am not worried about that. Besides, I can tell when people are shy/not confident of speaking to a foreigner and when people are suspicious of me.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

That is very true, I think the Triad situation may be exaggerated in HK media and movies. Is that so?

Hahaha definitely. Hong Kong has some kind of obsession with Triad movies, when in fact we are one of the safest cities out there.

Statistically, Hong Kong has one of the lowest murder rates in the entire world, next to Japan.

And like I said, Triad gangs don't attack random people, like the gangs in Latin America or Los Angeles do. Triads are very business minded people, they are only a threat to you if you are stupid enough to borrow money from them, otherwise you are fine.

And they specifically avoid attacking foreigners, because it would lead to international outrage, leading to police clampdowns. I.e. Bad for business. So that makes it even safer for outsiders.

Very true, considering both HK and SG are cosmopolitan 'international' cities with international outlooks. I know some Cantonese words anyway, I am not worried about that. Besides, I can tell when people are shy/not confident of speaking to a foreigner and when people are suspicious of me.

Well, I have had friends who are Bangladeshi, so I definitely won't be suspicious.

 

[itaskol]

I like Hongkong very much. and visit hongkong Gifts & Premium Fair almost everyyear.

and my wife buy a lot of things from hongkong. like Gold, jewelry,makeup,perfume, bags, iphone, jenney bakery cookie ..... cheaper than china Mainland.

 

[UnChosen]

Am I the only one to think that this kind of ranking is kind of useless? It doesn't factor in a lot of stuff. "How well countries manages their economic and human resources" can be interpreted in a lot of ways. Hong Kong is a city that literally cannot "lose" because of its financial hub status, same with Singapore. In good economic time, HK gets money to provide service to people wanting to invest in China and to export more products to the world. In bad economic time, HK gets money from people wanting to sell their Asian investment or to short-sell stocks.

It's the same thing with Singapore and Switzerland, small financial hubs attached to bigger regional economy that will make money from service no matter what happens.

The US benefits from having "unlimited" resource in the form of a world reserve currency, which they can print as much as they need to attract talents from the entire world (at the expense of inflation to the poor, of course). Other countries benefits from "easy money" in the form of plentiful resources like oil, minerals, or lumber.

The way I sees it...the most competitive in that list should really be Taiwan, followed by Germany. It's not easy managing a successful economy with absolutely no natural resources relative to the population and not being a financial hub. It means people in those country actually work hard and efficiently to produce products that people want.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

Hahaha definitely. Hong Kong has some kind of obsession with Triad movies, when in fact we are one of the safest cities out there.

Statistically, Hong Kong has one of the lowest murder rates in the entire world, next to Japan.

And like I said, Triad gangs don't attack random people, like the gangs in Latin America or Los Angeles do. Triads are very business minded people, they are only a threat to you if you are stupid enough to borrow money from them, otherwise you are fine.

And they specifically avoid attacking foreigners, because it would lead to international outrage, leading to police clampdowns. I.e. Bad for business. So that makes it even safer for outsiders.



Well, I have had friends who are Bangladeshi, so I definitely won't be suspicious.

That's another good thing about Hong Kong. The people, in my estimate, are generally less 'rigid', less 'uptight' than the Singaporeans. Then again, it's my opinion and it may not be true. In any case, both of these cities are two of the most developed spots anywhere in Asia outside Japan, and also some of the most advanced economies in the world.

Am I the only one to think that this kind of ranking is kind of useless? It doesn't factor in a lot of stuff. "How well countries manages their economic and human resources" can be interpreted in a lot of ways. Hong Kong is a city that literally cannot "lose" because of its financial hub status, same with Singapore. In good economic time, HK gets money to provide service to people wanting to invest in China and to export more products to the world. In bad economic time, HK gets money from people wanting to sell their Asian investment or to short-sell stocks.

It's the same thing with Singapore and Switzerland, small financial hubs attached to bigger regional economy that will make money from service no matter what happens.

The US benefits from having "unlimited" resource in the form of a world reserve currency, which they can print as much as they need to attract talents from the entire world (at the expense of inflation to the poor, of course). Other countries benefits from "easy money" in the form of plentiful resources like oil, minerals, or lumber.

The way I sees it...the most competitive in that list should really be Taiwan, followed by Germany. It's not easy managing a successful economy with absolutely no natural resources relative to the population and not being a financial hub. It means people in those country actually work hard and efficiently to produce products that people want.

You make some valid points. Maybe you should include Japan and Korea to Taiwan too. However, I think Hong Kong deserves a top rank because the quality of life, ease of doing business, and other factors related to economy (general economic openness) favour Hong Kong over many other countries. The reason Hong Kong successfully manages to be a financial hub and a gateway to China is the successful application of plans devised by its government and applied by the people, I reckon. It's quite different from USA that uses military, political and media power to use the dollar as the reserve currency to help boost its economy.

 

[UnChosen]

You make some valid points. Maybe you should include Japan and Korea to Taiwan too. However, I think Hong Kong deserves a top rank because the quality of life, ease of doing business, and other factors related to economy (general economic openness) favour Hong Kong over many other countries. The reason Hong Kong successfully manages to be a financial hub and a gateway to China is the successful application of plans devised by its government and applied by the people, I reckon. It's quite different from USA that uses military, political and media power to use the dollar as the reserve currency to help boost its economy.

Well I was just going down the list, so yeah Japan and Korea are two countries I would list, although not as high because they're notoriously protectionist in comparison to Taiwan and Germany. The reason why I don't regard HK as highly is because it is easier to be open when you're just relaying money to other places. It's when those money actually starts to flow into the bigger economies like China in Asia or Germany in Europe that they have to decide how to manage those money, whether to actually accept the investment or not, how to negotiate wages, plan factories, etc.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Am I the only one to think that this kind of ranking is kind of useless? It doesn't factor in a lot of stuff. "How well countries manages their economic and human resources" can be interpreted in a lot of ways. Hong Kong is a city that literally cannot "lose" because of its financial hub status, same with Singapore. In good economic time, HK gets money to provide service to people wanting to invest in China and to export more products to the world. In bad economic time, HK gets money from people wanting to sell their Asian investment or to short-sell stocks.

It's the same thing with Singapore and Switzerland, small financial hubs attached to bigger regional economy that will make money from service no matter what happens.

The US benefits from having "unlimited" resource in the form of a world reserve currency, which they can print as much as they need to attract talents from the entire world (at the expense of inflation to the poor, of course). Other countries benefits from "easy money" in the form of plentiful resources like oil, minerals, or lumber.

The way I sees it...the most competitive in that list should really be Taiwan, followed by Germany. It's not easy managing a successful economy with absolutely no natural resources relative to the population and not being a financial hub. It means people in those country actually work hard and efficiently to produce products that people want.

You made some very good points, and I agree with most of it.

 

[Banglar Lathial]

The reason why I don't regard HK as highly is because it is easier to be open when you're just relaying money to other places.

Hong Kong does not only act as a financial hub, if that's what you meant. Its airport, port, transport infrastructure, low level of violent crimes, low corruption, good legislative and executive systems, sound banking system, decent/good/excellent (depending on individual perspectives) education systems all help Hong Kong's case. In countries like Germany, one may say the country is not very international because it is largely focused on Europe. In countries like Australia, shops apparently close at 5 PM! Germany may be at the heart of Europe, but beyond that, foreigners may find it difficult to find/do much in Germany. For an economy of that size, there are hardly any large international banks or international airports in Germany.

 

[regular]

Nice to hear about the HongKong city......

 

[Sonyuke_Songpaisan]

OH, Both Taiwan and HOngkong do better than Mainland. so disappointing!

 

[itaskol]

why japan is only ranked no.27? france no.29?

 

[Fanling Monk]

why japan is only ranked no.27? france no.29?

Japanese government is very protective when it comes to her market and industries, it's not easy for an outsider to break into. France is likewise to a lesser extend and her socialist society encourages strong unions. France ,like many Euro nations, laying off workers because of lean times is almost impossible.

And one of the reason Honk Kong is listed at the top because red tapes are almost non existence, low taxes and movements of liquidity are completely free.

 

[Bond]

Hong kong is 1, Taiwan is 6 & CHina is 23.. so IMD thinks Hong kong is not part of CHina?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Hong kong is 1, Taiwan is 6 & CHina is 23.. so IMD thinks Hong kong is not part of CHina?

No, we are usually ranked separately due to our status as a Special Administrative Region of the PRC.

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