Hong Kong beats Singapore to No 1 in global ranking on economic freedom Hong Kong has beaten Singapore to regain its status as the world’s freest economy in a top Canadian think tank’s latest international league table released on Wednesday. Hong Kong had lost the top spot for the first time last year. The 2024 “Economic Freedom of the World” report, compiled by the Fraser Institute, a public policy research organisation headquartered in Vancouver, ranked Hong Kong No 1 among 165 jurisdictions. Hong Kong had a score of 8.58, followed by Singapore with 8.55. Switzerland was ranked third with a score of 8.43, followed by New Zealand and the United States, with 8.39 and 8.09, respectively. The rankings of other major economies include Japan at No 11, Britain at No 12, Taiwan at No 19, India at No 84 and mainland China at 104. The report examined regulation, openness to international trade, the size of government, the legal system and property rights, and the stability of currency. The report also considered the freedom of people to make economic decisions in their countries or cities, with the 2024 rankings based on statistics from 2022. Among the five areas of assessment, Hong Kong ranked first in “freedom to trade internationally” and “regulation” in the 2024 report. It placed third globally for “sound money”, 21st for “legal system and property rights” and 45th in “size of government”. The city lost to Singapore and fell to No 2 last year, the first time Hong Kong had not ranked first on the list since its inception in 1975. The report had cited Beijing’s influence, as well as barriers to entry, limits on hiring foreigners and rising costs. The Hong Kong government at the time rejected the report’s conclusions and said some were “factually wrong”, maintaining the city remained committed to its status as an international financial centre. “For the longest time, Hong Kong has fully leveraged the advantages of a free market, and maintained a free, open, effective and fair business environment. The ranking fully reflects the international recognition of these advantages,” a government spokesman said on Wednesday. The spokesman attributed Hong Kong’s success to the “one country, two systems” governing principle and the city’s “conducive business environment”, which included low tax rates, transparent markets and a regulatory regime that confirmed to international standards. “Looking ahead, with the staunch support of the [central authorities], we will proactively integrate the city into the overall national development, align with national development strategies,” the spokesman said. “We will continue to serve as a two-way springboard for attracting international enterprises to Hong Kong and supporting mainland enterprises to going global.” City leader John Lee Ka-chiu set out in his policy address on Wednesday measures to consolidate and enhance Hong Kong’s status as an international financial, shipping and trading centre and as an international hub for high-calibre talent. The Fraser report also noted that the global average economic freedom score for all jurisdictions increased from 6.19 to 6.80 between 2000 and 2019. But overall global economic freedom had declined to 6.56 in 2022, reversing more than a decade of progress. The three lowest ranking countries were Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Sudan. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3282647/hong-kong-beats-singapore-no-1-global-ranking-economic-freedom (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post