Hong Kong ranks world's second most competitive economy

Hong Kong ranked the world's second most competitive economy, up from the fourth place last year, according to the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015.

"We welcome the IMD's high regard of Hong Kong as the world's second most competitive economy," Financial Secretary John Tsang said Thursday.

"Hong Kong is highly competitive vis-a-vis most other economies in the world, especially in terms of government efficiency and business efficiency in which Hong Kong attains the top rank globally. This once again affirms the importance of our steadfast fiscal discipline, robust financial system and favorable business environment," Tsang said.

"We will continue to consolidate Hong Kong's institutional strengths and broaden the economic base on various fronts, and will strive to uphold our leading position as a key metropolitan city in the world," he continued.

According to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015 released Wednesday, Hong Kong's rank rose to the second among the 61 economies assessed, only after the United States.

The report ranks the competitiveness of 61 economies around the world in various aspects. The four competitiveness factors assessed are: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure, each consists of five sub- factors.

Among the four competitiveness factors assessed, Hong Kong's rankings in government efficiency and business efficiency both improved to the first globally, up from the second and the third last year respectively, while that in infrastructure also climbed six places to the 15th.

However, as a highly open economy, Hong Kong's economic growth slackened amid the unsteady global economic performance last year, resulting in a slight drop in the ranking in economic performance from the seventh to the ninth.