Hong Kong and Singapore have achieved stunning economic growth over the past decades; but through different approaches. Hong Kong's growth has been driven by the private sector, while Singapore has used a state-led capitalism model.
The two economies are roughly the same size, but Singapore definitely has the momentum. In the past decade, Singapore's per capita gross domestic product surged 136 per cent (in US dollar terms), whereas Hong Kong's rose 37 per cent. During the decade, Singapore's GDP grew 196 per cent; Hong Kong's, 45 per cent.
Singapore's per capita income is about 40 per cent greater than the average Hongkonger's.
But as both cities struggle to continue to deliver high economic growth in the increasingly volatile and complex global environment, they seem to have taken to learning the secrets to each other's success.
Both started off under British rule as trading ports, during which time the governments mainly focused on providing law and order, health, and education, and left commerce in private hands.
Things changed in Singapore when it gained independence from the British, in 1965, under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew. Lee was elected based on, among other things, a social contract under which Singaporeans gave up certain civil liberties in return for economic prosperity and stability.