Hong Kong has lost its premier finance centre status to Singapore in a global ranking list. New York and London maintained their number one and two spots.
Singapore jumped three places to third in the twice-a-year Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI) which assesses 119 cities around the world.
Hong Kong has adhered to a version of China’s strict zero-Covid rules throughout the pandemic, battering the economy and deepening a brain drain as rival business hubs reopened. The city still mandates three days of hotel quarantine for all international arrivals while its border with the Chinese mainland is mostly closed.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore
In contrast, Singapore successfully shifted to endemicity earlier this year and has reopened without restrictions. The city-state is hosting a slew of financial and business conferences in the coming months as well as a Formula 1 night race soon.
San Francisco came in at number five in the survey, up two spots. Shanghai, which was shut down earlier this year under China’s coronavirus controls, was number six followed by Los Angeles, Beijing and Shenzhen. Paris took 10th spot, replacing Tokyo which fell to 16th place. Kuala Lumpur dropped to 56th spot (down from 48th position previously).
There is a desire to create Kuala Lumpur as a financial centre regionally and perhaps globally. Then there is our Labuan Offshore Financial Centre (LOFC). So there is a little bit of confusion – which is it? Besides that a financial centre is not the building or an area like TRX, it is the people and the institutions that participate for various reasons. Singapore didn’t become a top centre by chance, default or sheer providence. It has been working on this for over 40 years. It takes plan, people, and providence to turn your mission into reality. Ask Dubai or Qatar, both working their way up the ladder (GFCI).
In Malaysia, we have too many issues to become a regional centre. The Government and BNM would say we are a global powerhouse in Islamic finance. That’s partly true. The Middle-East, however, does not accept our Shariah principles and hence any comparison or ranking is not fully accepted or supported. So, what do we want to be? If we get our goals right then maybe we could create a Financial Free Zone (FFZ) where local issues are not applicable and a separate authority runs the FFZ, not BNM or the LOFC.
References:
Asia’s new financial centre, The Star, 24 September 2022
Global Financial Centres Index 32, September 2022
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