Is Singapore unanimously winning its contest with Hong Kong SAR to be Asia's top hub?

As described in the quoted article from the FT, Big Tech definitely continues to cheer the Lion City from ringside. And now, not just the US’s household names, but also China’s Big Tech, are moving into the city state.

International companies and investors coming to Asia have long used the Hong Kong SAR as a springboard into Mainland China, with Singapore being a platform from which to reach South East Asia. Geographically and for socio-political reasons, these two Asian hubs have been well-positioned to allow businesses to transfer into the more populous markets that neighbour them. However, with Chinese Tech in real ascendancy in terms of technological offerings and looking to put its wares to good use serving customers much further beyond the Mainland’s borders, Singapore has become an alluring destination for it too. PRC tech venture capital groups also trod a similar path a matter of months before. 

With the nickname of the Emerald City, Singapore is more than just a pretty place to open an office: high-calibre labour, modern services and a robust common law legal system add to the nation’s attractiveness. The same reasons continue to catch the eye of Western executives deciding where to plant their Asia flag. And with the ongoing uncertainties swirling around Hong Kong, coupled with the barriers to entry north of the border for Western tech players considering the Mainland market – be these obstacles arising from the dominance of local giants or licensing and other regulatory restrictions – you cannot blame Western executives that see the aggregate of these factors tipping the seesaw in Singapore’s favour, and ultimately leading them to put a toe in the SEA.

Of course, Hong Kong is not down-and-out as a place to be in Tech. We work with some amazing clients innovating in the territory. They are generating huge excitement in the digital space and will continue to do so into China and around the wider region. It is going to be interesting to see how, for example, FinTech and other players in the Mainland and SAR collaborate under the regulatory framework of the Greater Bay Area given the increased clarity in the rules published last month. We are also speaking with MedTech groups wanting to exploit the vast numbers of people and desire for access to high-quality healthcare across the cities of Hong Kong and Southern China, rather than setting up in the more saturated municipalities of Beijing and Shanghai.

No doubt more laws and policies are on the horizon, from within and outside Asia. The direction of travel of Hong Kong and Singapore will likely twist and turn many more times. But as football seasons look to kick off again in Europe, like fans have said there for many years, you cannot have Messi without Ronaldo – the two rivals bring the best out of each other. Which of Hong Kong and Singapore is Messi or Ronaldo, I will leave you to decide…