ASIAN CITY OF THE FUTURE: HK

ASIAN CITIES & REGIONS OF THE FUTURE 2005/06
December 12, 2005


Hong Kong earns the title of Asian city of the future with India and Australia picking up the regional honours. Courtney Fingar reports on whoÂ's doing most to attract foreign direct investment.

ASIAN CITY OF THE FUTURE:

Winner: Hong Kong

A member of the elite group of truly world-class cities on a par with London, New York and Paris, Hong Kong continues to fend off pretenders to its Asian throne. While Sydney is stunning, Singapore is serene and Shanghai is sizzling, there is still only one Hong Kong. Its status of being Chinese, yet at the same time not entirely, allows it to benefit from ChinaÂ's ascendance without being steamrollered by it.

This is, in turn, the unique advantage that Hong Kong provides to its foreign investors, and it is one not to be underestimated: come and get a piece of the Chinese action, the city says, but from a safe, stable, somewhat familiar base camp. It is an alluring pitch that will ensure Hong KongÂ's spot near the top of the FDI league tables for many years to come.

On quality of life, Hong Kong is tough to beat, as the judges in fDiÂ's first ever Asian Cities & Regions of the Future competition concluded. But, as much fun as it is to play in this exotic, cosmopolitan city, it is primarily a place for doing business – and on that front there is also much to applaud.

In addition to its first place ranking in the quality of life category, the former British colony and now Chinese special administrative region also came top in transport, IT and telecommunications, and FDI potential. It came in second place, after Sydney, in human resources.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Runner up: Sydney

Although Hong KongÂ's lead in fDiÂ's competition was comfortable, overall runner up Sydney did manage to better it in the human resources category, proving that the Australian cityÂ's primary competitive strength is to be found in sheer people power.

SydneyÂ's quality of life was deemed second only to Hong KongÂ's, impressing our judges with its high-calibre housing and excellent schools, not to mention its array of cultural offerings. Situated on beautiful Sydney Harbour, anchored by the world-famous Sydney Opera House, the capital of New South Wales boasts a culturally diverse and highly educated population, magnificent scenery and an Antipodean friendliness – all of which make it an exceedingly enticing place in which to live and work.>