Letters | Economic geography is Hong Kong’s edge over the world’s rising cities

Readers discuss the global competition for talent, why Hong Kong and Singapore are apples and oranges, and proposed amendments to the Victoria Harbour protection ordinance

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People wave the flags of China and Hong Kong during an event celebrating the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 11:30am, 4 Jul 2024

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Oxford Economics has published its inaugural ranking of global cites in terms of human capital, economics, quality of life and other categories. Hong Kong did not make it to any of the forecaster’s top 10 lists by category, but two cities of the Arabian Gulf made the top 10 in the human capital category, with Riyadh at No 3 and Abu Dhabi at No 8.

Oxford Economics has blundered in leaving Hong Kong off its top 10 lists, but it is right about the phenomenal growth of those two Arab cities. Their amazing development is partly a reflection of increased trade and investment between China and the Gulf. A session at the World Economic Forum event in Dalian in June heard that trade between China and the Gulf region has increased to half a trillion dollars in around a decade.

The Gulf’s new financial firepower is its magnet-like ability to attract human capital. It is also seeing a monumental, officially-led shift away from oil to service and green industries, and a transformation in cultural and recreational opportunities.

Today, Hong Kong is in competition with cities like Riyadh for highly skilled, innovative and entrepreneurial people – the movers and shakers of the future. The political struggle between China and its Western adversaries is a complicating factor in that global competition.

But economic geography is Hong Kong’s buttress against geopolitical headwinds. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s clear-eyed focus on growing the economy by leveraging relations with the mainland is the key to our future – and the clincher in Hong Kong’s sales pitch to the world’s mobile top talent.