I went to a Think Asia, Think Hong Kong event earlier this week. Towards the end of the session, one of the delegates stood up and asked how Hong Kong compares with Singapore. This is obviously a very relevant question for many SMEs looking to expand into Asia.
As the panel at the event explained, competition between Hong Kong and Singapore is intense, but this is the way they like it. One drives the other on, with each country introducing new initiatives to become even more attractive for inbound investment.
From my experience of having worked with companies expanding into Asia, it is clear that there is no easy ‘one size fits all’ answer to the question. However, some useful factors that all businesses should consider when comparing Hong Kong and Singapore are as follows: