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| Prime location gives competitive edge ( 10/02/2003 ) | |||||||||
Dr Edmund Thompson of the Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University of Japan, said in his study "Competitive Advantage Dynamics in the Asia-Pacific" that over 69 per cent of firms here find Hong Kong to be in a very advantageous business location. Foreign firms were more bullish than local firms. Among the foreign firms, 84 per cent of British companies agreed that Hong Kong is very advantageous for their activities, the highest percentage of any nationality. On an industry basis, the financial services sector has the highest level of agreement with 79 per cent. "Hong Kong's top competitive advantage is found to be an open, world-class internet/telecommunications environment," Dr Thompson said. "The city's second highest ranked locational advantage is a free international trade regime followed by a free-market business environment, good geographical position, a reliable international-standard legal system, and transport infrastructure." In joint fourth place for locational advantages are a transparent, low-tax fiscal system and an internationally-oriented, well-regulated financial services sector. "That over three quarters of foreign firms still regard the SAR as very attractive for their increasingly mobile activities is quite positive, especially as Shanghai and Singapore are becoming increasingly competitive compared to Hong Kong," Dr Thompson said. He added that although these are preliminary results, they underline the importance of both the mainland and Hong Kong governments in protecting "the city's open and free information technology and broader business environments". "If policymakers can also avoid undermining the SAR's legal and fiscal systems while tracking international best practice in financial market regulation, Hong Kong ought to remain advantageous for foreign firms," Dr Thompson added. Related link: | |||||||||
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