Will Hong Kong continue to fall behind Singapore in competitiveness rankings?

Inability to retain talent within government, housing issues and cocktail of challenges from protests to pandemic identified as factors for city’s slide

Widely recognised survey by Swiss-based International Institute for Management also shows there are no winners in US-China trade war

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While most warn that Hong Kong’s best days may be over, some in the business sector remain confident that the economy will recover. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 18 Jun 2020Updated: 10:23am, 18 Jun 2020

Hong Kong’s policymakers should heed a wake-up call to secure the city’s social and political stability after it fell behind rival Singapore in a competitiveness ranking for the second year in a row, analysts have said.

The pair have been the only two Asian cities for the past decade making it into the top 10 on a list of economies compiled by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management (IMD).

Singapore took the crown two years in a row while Hong Kong grabbed the fifth spot, down from second last year and the lowest since its No 6 placing in 2004.

“I am not surprised if Hong Kong’s ranking rolls further downhill next year, or even beyond No 10,” said Simon Lee, senior lecturer of Chinese University’s business school. “The Hong Kong government needs to urgently review the city’s economic performance. This is not the first global survey that shows a worsening trend.”

Affordable housing and a stable political system are factors identified in Singapore's favour. Photo: EPA-EFE

In March, Washington-based think-tank Heritage Foundation found that the social unrest last year from the anti-government protests took a heavy toll on Hong Kong’s position as the freest economy in the world. The city lost its top spot for the first time in 25 years, dropping a place after it was unseated by Singapore.