By Fiona Chan
Singapore beat Hong Kong in areas including employment figures, education, health and environment, scientific infrastructure and institutional frameworks such as government policies. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
FOR the first time ever, Singapore has pipped Hong Kong and the United States
to take the top spot in a closely-watched global ranking of economies according to
their competitiveness.
But the gap between the top three placers is so narrow - their scores differ by
less than 1 per cent - that the ranking's publisher, Swiss business school IMD,
calls it a photo finish.
Still, this marks the first time since 1994 that the US has failed to place first in the
annual rankings, which started in 1989. For most of the 1990s, Singapore came
in second in the rankings, but in recent years it has alternated with Hong Kong for
second and third place.
Singapore beat Hong Kong in areas including employment figures, education,
health and environment, scientific infrastructure and institutional frameworks such
as government policies. But it fared poorly in the areas of prices - coming in 47th out of
58 countries in the rankings - and productivity and efficiency, in which it ranked 17th.
