Can Hong Kong win the talent race with Singapore? Cut red tape, improve schemes, set up an official agency, experts say
- Current schemes are too restrictive, expats are put off by high taxes when they buy homes
- Singapore, which overtook city in global competitive rankings, is ‘more targeted in luring talent’
Existing schemes to attract talent should be improved and freed of red tape, they said, and the current high taxes paid by non-locals who buy property ought to be relooked at too.
Hong Kong slipped from third to fourth position in the world in the Global Financial Centres Index released in September, while Singapore moved up from sixth to third spot, behind New York and London.
The six-monthly ranking by the China Development Institute in Shenzhen and the London think tank Z/Yen Partners, rated 120 cities on five broad areas of competitiveness.
Compared with the last ranking in March, Hong Kong fell behind Singapore in all five areas of competitiveness – human capital, reputation, business environment, infrastructure and financial sector development. Among them, the city’s reputation suffered the biggest hit, falling from third to ninth in the world.
The report suggested that Hong Kong’s ongoing travel restrictions were a key factor affecting its ability to conduct “normal levels of business”.
Heiwai Tang, an economics professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), said the city had suffered as many expatriates had left over the past two years because of harsh Covid-19 measures that included compulsory quarantine for travellers.
