Singapore is now Asia’s top finance center

In a global ranking list that New York and London have kept their positions atop respectively, Hong Kong has been dethroned by Singapore as the prime financial center of Asia. Singapore now holds that title.

The results of the twice-yearly Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), which evaluates 119 cities all over the world and was published late on Thursday, showed that Singapore jumped three places to take the third spot (Sep 22).

Throughout the pandemic, Hong Kong has adhered to a modified version of China’s stringent zero-COVID policies, which has harmed the economy and exacerbated a brain drain as competing business centres have resumed normal operations.

Despite the fact that its border with the Chinese mainland is mostly closed, the city continues to require all international visitors to remain in hotel quarantine for a period of three days.

Singapore, on the other hand, was able to make the successful transition to endemicity earlier this year and has since reopened without any limitations.

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In the following months, the city-state will play host to a spate of financial and business conferences. Additionally, next week, the city-state will play host to a Formula 1 night race. All told, approximately 4 million visitors are anticipated to attend this year.

In response to the most recent ranking released by the GFCI, the administration of Hong Kong issued a statement that was approximately 600 words long and focused on the city’s improved point rating since the previous year.

The administration of Hong Kong has stated that they will “continue to listen to perspectives and be brave in bringing forward reforms” in order to consolidate and develop Hong Kong’s capital market as well as their role as an international financial center.

The coronavirus or the continuing pandemic controls were neither mentioned nor alluded to in the statement.

The survey placed San Francisco at number five, moving the city up two points from its previous position. Los Angeles, Beijing, and Shenzhen came in first, second, and third, respectively, followed by number six, Shanghai, which was quarantined earlier this year due to China’s coronavirus measures.

The tenth spot has been taken by Paris, pushing Tokyo down to the sixteenth position.