HK Vs Singapore As International Financial Centre

An International Financial Centre (IFC) is a collection of markets that trade financial services or products and help to allocate resources or property rights efficiently. It is not an easy task to become a successful IFC. HK and Singapore have always tried to reach the position of the second biggest financial centre in Asia; they have been rivals of each other for over 30 years. HK has always been in the top 4 ranking in Asia; however its relative position had a little change after the Asian Financial Crisis and Singapore is catching up with vigorous competition. For example, Singapore has designed many tax incentives schemes and other policies to attract fund management, and investment banking to relocate from HK to Singapore. It can be clearly seen that Singapore government made no effort to hide their idea of trying to replace HK¡¦s financial position, especially after 1997. Both the countries have lots of common features, including economic freedom, former British colonies, predominantly Chinese, with an English based legal system. In judging HK and Singapore¡¦s entitlement to the label of IFC, we must consider the countries

On the other hand, HK has a host of serious and difficult problems to solve following the Asian financial crisis in order to continue to retain and increase its competitiveness. Their difficulties have given Singapore room to challenge that position. Singapore has highlighted the determination and concrete steps it will take to forge ahead and snatch the lead from HK. The main things they will concentrate on in the next few years would be incentives to enhance fund management activities, deepen the capital market and attract foreign companies to base their headquarters in Singapore. Whatever happens, HK still has more than twice as many people as Singapore and a GDP that is 78 percent bigger. Its stock market capitalization is three times bigger. It handles more containers than any other port in the world. While Singapore has forged ahead of HK in some niche financial services, like private banking, the SAR remains far ahead as a regional center for loans, money management, insurance and bond trading. Along with HK's greatest advantage: its position with the huge China market.

Some topics in this essay:
Asia Pacific, Financial Crisis, London York, Singapore GDP, HK Singapore, Government HKSAR, HK HK, HK Singapore¡¦s, Minister KYLee, Asian IFC, international financial, asian financial crisis, hk singapore, economic freedom, asian financial, financial centre, financial sector, financial crisis, financial services, london york, ahead hk, international financial centre, skilled labour force,