A Paradigm Shift Towards a Green and Sustainable Finance Center

Hong Kong in Transition: A Paradigm Shift Towards a Green and Sustainable Finance Center 27 Hong Kong’s decline in its attractiveness to talent is much more alarming than its weakening performance in the FXmarket. TheWorld Talent Ranking, which is published by the International Institute for Management Development, ranks regions based on their ability to develop, attract, and retain talent. Hong Kong ranked 9 th for its overall talent performance in 2016, but it dropped to 16 th in 2023 (Figure 20). Singapore was in the 15 th place in 2016 and rose to the 8 th in 2023. So, Hong Kong and Singapore have switched their talent ranking over the past eight years, with the former going down and the latter other becoming more popular. The ranking of world talent is derived from a survey which includes criteria that are grouped into three main factors: investment and development, appeal, and readiness. The criterion of investment and development looks at spending on education, the quality of the education system, the availability of apprenticeships, and the ease of finding skilled employees. The appeal factor assesses the appeal of a region to talent, which includes aspects such as quality of life, the ease of settling in for expatriates, and the lifestyle that a country offers. Readiness measures how ready the workforce is in terms of skills and competencies. It includes the prevalence of technical skills, the ability to manage a company, and the flexibility of employees to learn new skills. We can see that the workforce in Singapore has always been ready (Figure 21). Its readiness has remained at the top level worldwide. By contrast, the readiness of the workforce in Hong Kong needs improvement. Furthermore, Hong Kong’s appeal dropped sharply from 4 th place in 2016 to 32 nd place in 2023 while Singapore’s appeal rose slightly from 19 th place to 14 th . Over the same period, the factor of investment and development in Singapore increased from 40 th place to 31 st . Hong Kong also made an effort in this aspect and its position went up from 27 th to 15 th . This indicates that the city is turning itself into an attractive destination for talent from the perspective of long-term development. However, its appeal to talent and workforce readiness both are losing competitiveness. In the long run, if this trend continues, it may result in a brain drain, which will be difficult to reverse and could impede Hong Kong’s efforts in maintaining its position in the global landscape.