Stronger than ever 10 years later (hktdc.com)


	Shigemi Furuta, TDC's Director for Japan, with the book explaining Hong Kong's competitiveness

Hong Kong ranked number one for competitiveness out of 50 economies and will remain one of the world's most competitive economies in the next decade, according to a study by a Japanese think tank.

The influential Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) reported that the city's strength will continue to grow as it spearheads the heavy industrialisation of the Pearl River Delta Region (PRD) in southern China.

"Hong Kong and Macau are leading the industrialisation of the pan PRD region. Hong Kong is moving up and increasing its research and development capability to support the heavy industries in Guangdong," said Shigemi Furuta, Director for Japan at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC).

TDC helped organise Japanese think tanks and business leaders to Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Chengdu in February last year and co-ordinated the publication of the research findings into a book translated as "Evolving Hong Kong: newly revealed secrets of its competitiveness." The book is currently on sale in Japan only.

Decade of growth

Ms Furuta said the think tanks were surprised at Hong Kong's growth, given its general perception that the city's economy had, over the past decade, been eclipsed by Shanghai and other mainland cities. "In fact, Hong Kong had become even stronger economically than it was at the time of the Handover*," JCER pointed out in the book.

JCER based the study on eight criteria for competitiveness. Hong Kong came up tops for internalisation and finance and second for enterprise and infrastructure. It also reported that Hong Kong had upgraded its science and technology ranking. The JCER study said Hong Kong's per capita GDP would increase the most among the 50 economies it studied – including the United States and Singapore - and believed that several factors would fuel Hong Kong's growth over the next 10 years. What may possibly derail Hong Kong's economic development, according to the study, would be China which it considers a "risk." However, risk factors could be turned into opportunities, accoroding to the study.

The JCER economists said the world failed to predict Hong Kong's continuing economic success after the 1997 Handover because they could not see the fundamental changes taking place on the mainland. Neither could they predict Hong Kong's role in the mainland's booming economy.

"Continued mainland expansion would bring more economic success to Hong Kong in the future," concluded the think tank.

JCER is a prominent research institute operated by the Nikkei Group whose newspaper Nikkei is the most influential economic newspaper in Japan.

* "The Handover" refers to Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997.