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Hong Kong has been ranked first for the second consecutive year in the Financial Development Index released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its Financial Development Report 2012, with a score of 5.31 (on a scale of 1 to 7).
The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, said today (November 1), "We welcome the WEF's continuous recognition of Hong Kong's leading position among international financial centres.
"Hong Kong is highly competitive vis-ˆj-vis most other financial systems in the world, especially in terms of contract enforcement, taxes and the infrastructure of the business environment, as well as the efficiency of banking financial services. Our strengths in IPO activity, equity market development and commercial access are also well recognised by the WEF.
"We will study the report carefully for any further useful comments on Hong Kong. We will continue to strengthen Hong Kong in various aspects as a leading financial centre and as the Mainland's offshore Renminbi centre," he said.
The study ranks the breadth, depth and efficiency of 62 of the world's leading financial systems and capital markets, analysing drivers of financial system development that support economic growth. The seven pillars assessed are institutional environment, business environment, financial stability, banking financial services, non-banking financial services, financial markets and financial access.
Among the seven component pillars assessed, Hong Kong is ranked among the top five in banking financial services (first), business environment (second), financial access (fourth) and financial markets (fourth).
Hong Kong is followed in the rankings by the United States (second), the United Kingdom (third), Singapore (fourth) and Australia (fifth). Separately, Mainland China is ranked 23rd this year.
Ends/Thursday, November 1, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:11
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