Taipei Falls to 50th in 2013 Global Financial Centers Index
2014/01/03 | By Quincy LiangTaiwan's future in financial market development seems shaky according to its capital Taipei's global ranking in the 2013 Global Financial Centers Index, which fell to 50th from 41st in the previous year, lagging major cities in Asia as Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The Global Financial Centers Index is a ranking of the competitiveness of financial centers based on over 26,000 financial centers assessed by online questionnaire together with over 80 indices from organizations such as the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is compiled and published twice a year by Z/Yen Group and sponsored by the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. The ranking is an aggregate of indices from five key areas: people, business environment, market access, infrastructure and general competitiveness. As of October 2013, the top-five centers worldwide are: London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.
The ranking always receive close attention from global governments. Holding the No. 3 position for some time, Hong Kong, however, has been aware of threats from other cities in Asia, and has set up a special committee to further strengthen its global competitiveness.
The Global Financial Centers Index was inaugurated in 2007. In the past years, rankings of the top-three London, New York and Hong Kong have remained unchanged; while Taipei's ranking fell from 19th in 2011 to 41st in 2012, and to 50th in 2013, without being in the top-10 in Asia.
In the global ranking's categorization, Taipei is regarded as a regional city like Bangkok and Manila, with abundance of talents but implying modest levels of internationalization.
The 2013 global ranking report listed 11 cities that are notable, in sequence including Singapore, Shanghai, Busan, Hong Kong, Seoul, Gibraltar, Luxemburg, Beijing, Dubai, Shenzhen and Istanbul. Except the No. 7 Luxemburg, all others in the top-11 are in Asia.