HK, Singapore best economies for investment in Asia-Pacific

Jan 7, 2011

Hong Kong and Singapore have been voted Asia-Pacific’s best economies for investment, according to a new poll conducted by Vriens & Partners.

Hong Kong emerged on top in the survey of 18 countries, followed by Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.

Titled 'Good Governance for International Business Asia-Pacific 2010', the inaugural study ranked the economies on six criteria including rule of law, taxation, corruption, openness to international trade and business, public sector quality and effectiveness and fiscal and monetary administration.

About 100 business and investment leaders from the oil and gas, mining, telecommunications and consumer goods industries were surveyed online in October for their views on the economies where they were active.

The poll also incorporated data from several other sources including the World Bank's 'Doing Business and Worldwide Governance Indicators' and World Economic Forum's 'Global Competitiveness’.

“This index is a timely and useful resource for business leaders and governments,” said Hans Vriens, managing partner at the Singapore-based political risk consultancy.

“International business is increasingly interested in emerging economies across Asia, and there has been a clear effort by governments to improve governance for international business in order to attract investment.”

Singapore performed strongly across all the categories for its reputation for adopting bureaucratic efficiency, economic liberalisation, international trade, and lack of corruption.

Singapore will likely surpass neighbouring Malaysia, which was ranked seventh by V&P, as this year’s third largest economy in Southeast Asia, following Indonesia and Thailand.

Both Malaysia and Singapore could receive a huge boost from foreign direct investment if they can conclude their free trade talks with the European Union (EU) in the next two years.