Financial Secretary John Tsang has welcomed the International Institute for Management Development World Competitiveness Yearbook 2016 which ranked Hong Kong the world's most competitive economy.
According to the yearbook, released yesterday, Hong Kong was ranked top among the 61 economies assessed, followed by Switzerland, the US and Singapore. Hong Kong was ranked second last year.
Mr Tsang noted the institute's high regard of Hong Kong and its recognition of the city’s consistent commitment to a favourable business environment, saying: "We are delighted to see that Hong Kong has regained the title of the world's most competitive economy."
In light of the fierce competition in the global arena, he said Hong Kong will strive to uphold its prevailing competitive edge and continue to search for new growth areas to strengthen its position as an international financial, trading and business centre, and enhance its long-term competitiveness.
The institute also recognised Hong Kong’s consistent commitment to providing a favourable business environment, its encouragement of innovation through low and simple taxation, its free flow of capital, and its role as a gateway between the Mainland and the global capital markets.
The report assessed each economy on four competitiveness factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
Hong Kong's rankings in government efficiency and business efficiency both continued to be ranked first globally.
The ranking in economic performance climbed four places from ninth to fifth, mainly reflecting the more resilient Hong Kong economy compared to others in the challenging global economic environment last year.
However, due to changes in the institute's choice of indicators, Hong Kong's ranking in infrastructure dropped from 15th to 21st.
