Leer en Español
SINGAPORE has overtaken Hong Kong as Asia’s leading financial center and now ranks third in the world, according to the latest report of the Global Financial Centres Index (one of the reference sources for rankings in this sector), which places New York and London at the top of the list.
Until now the third global financial “hub” and first in Asia, Hong Kong has fallen to fourth place in the latest index of Global Financial Centres, published on Thursday, which justifies the decision on the effect of the zero covid policy set by Beijing in the former British colony and the exodus of talent produced as a result.
Singapore, on the contrary, which maintained a strict border closure policy until the beginning of this year, and has now reached a situation of practical normality and openness, has managed to recover from the pandemic and this year expects to receive more than 4 million visitors.
The Asian city-state is hosting high-profile meetings this year, such as the Shangri-La Dialogue, which took place in June and is Asia’s most important defense forum; the Forbes Global CEO Conference; and the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix, which will come to the island at the end of the month.
The Asian country, which climbed three positions from the previous ranking, has always competed with Hong Kong to be the main regional financial center, something that until recently seemed far out of reach, due to the greater power of the Hong Kong stock exchange and the unique access to China offered by the former British colony.
The Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen remain in the top ten, despite the Draconian measures against the COVID-19 pandemic that Beijing still imposes within the country, isolated in practice from the rest of the world.
