Hong Kong climbs to third in World Economic Forum’s competitiveness rankings, but judicial independence and press freedom ‘decline’
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Hong Kong has climbed into the top three for competitiveness in this year’s global rankings, but the independence of its judiciary and press freedom have declined, according to the World Economic Forum.
The city was up four notches from seventh in 2018 – behind Singapore and the United States – as it leapfrogged the likes of the Netherlands and Switzerland, the Geneva-based organisation revealed on Wednesday in its annual competitiveness index.
“Therefore, they do not reflect any of their potential consequences – positive or negative – on the drivers of competitiveness,” a footnote in the 2019 report said.
The 656-page study noted the city’s performance in judicial independence and its decline in press freedom, without elaborating. Hong Kong ranked eighth and 61st respectively in those areas, out of 141 economies.