# Asia's best cities for business



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Politically-speaking, Japan is the most stable country in Asia. From an economic infrastructure point of view, Tokyo and Osaka are actually more stable than Hong Kong. However, that comes at the expense of growth potential.


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## kashyap3 (Jul 11, 2006)

Japan is the world's second largest economy
and stability is a boon to businesses who are in for the long term instead of merely setting up shop in booming economies


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

But one thing, if you do business with The Japanese, it is very formal and conducted well. When I deal with Japanese clients, I usually bring in an interpreter with me just in case.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Japan is stable, but they have gone through a major recession for the past 10 years. Investors in more volatile neighboring markets were able to get much better returns.


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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

WANCH said:


> HK is as stable as Singapore. And it's also one of the freeiest in the world.


Agree. Hong Kong is the face of democratic China.

Anyway, I want to take back what I said. I guess Hong Kong is more favorable than Singapore. That's because S'pore lacks resources. The city-state is just a midget compared to HK. However, S'pore will always be one of the top, as long as they can sustain it. 

BTW, Mainland China is even more useful to HK than Malaysia is to Singapore. Just my opinion.


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## ignoramus (Jun 16, 2004)

cosmoManila said:


> Agree. Hong Kong is the face of democratic China.
> 
> Anyway, I want to take back what I said. I guess Hong Kong is more favorable than Singapore. That's because S'pore lacks resources. The city-state is just a midget compared to HK. However, S'pore will always be one of the top, as long as they can sustain it.
> 
> BTW, Mainland China is even more useful to HK than Malaysia is to Singapore. Just my opinion.


Both Singapore and Hong Kong lack resources (if you mean natural ones). China and Hong Kong have such a close relationship because HK is part of China, and that is a more than compelling enough reason for them to be close yet competitive still. Singapore and Malaysia on the other hand are not, and while each country is useful to the other in various ways, they compete in a lot of others so they are pretty much independent in many ways as well.


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## JustHorace (Dec 17, 2005)

^^Yup, exactly my point. 

HK and Singapore both lack in natural resources. However, the former has mainland China anyway.


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## RafflesCity (Sep 11, 2002)

*Singapore Is TIME Magazine's Top Business City In Asia Once Again*

http://app.stb.com.sg/asp/new/new03a.asp?id=4263

5 December 2005 – Asian readers of TIME Magazine have once again voted Singapore as their Favourite Business City. This is the fifth year running that Singapore has clinched the accolade.

Singapore’s MICE (Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions and Exhibitions) facilities were also voted the best in Asia for the second year in a row. Singapore’s Changi Airport was also ranked by the magazine’s readers as their Favourite Asian Airport, while Singapore Airlines came out tops in the airline category.

These accolades are the latest in the string of honours achieved by Singapore’s MICE industry in 2005. Earlier this year, Singapore clinched the Best BTMICE City title in the TTG Travel Awards and was voted Best Business City by readers of the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific magazine. 

This year, Singapore was also ranked the world’s 2nd Top Convention City and Asia’s No. 1 Convention City by the International Congress and Convention Association. In addition, Singapore maintained its status as Asia’s top Convention City in the annual ranking by the Union of International Associations, a position it has held for 22 consecutive years.

Mr Aloysius Arlando, the Singapore Tourism Board’s Acting Assistant Chief Executive (Business Travel & MICE Group), said: "It is a great honour to be voted Favourite Business City by Time Magazine once again. This accolade is a testament to Singapore’s strong appeal as a business and MICE destination and the quality of our MICE infrastructure and offerings. It is indeed a fantastic way to cap what has been a successful year for Singapore’s BTMICE industry. STB looks forward to intensifying our collaboration with our industry partners to make 2006 another great year for Singapore.”

In 2004, Singapore welcomed an estimated 2.2 million business and MICE visitors, accounting for about 26% of total visitor arrivals of 8.3 million. 

The poll was open to TIME readers in Asia between April 11 and June 30 and captured their travel patterns and habits. This year, there were nominations in 11 categories to honour the best in business cities, airports, resorts, holiday destinations, airlines and hotels around the region. A two-page questionnaire was inserted in five TIME issues this year - April 18th, 25th, May 9th, 30th and June 13th - and was supplemented by an online questionnaire to give respondents the choice of completing the survey through a dedicated URL. The 2005 survey closed with a total of 2,193 replies.


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## classhopper (Oct 25, 2004)

TOP 3 (alphabetical order)
HK,Singapore,Tokyo


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## jrevalde (Aug 2, 2005)

^^ top three for now, in 10-20 years they will face stiff competition from centers such as jakarta, manila, bangkok and kuala lumpur

Go SEA!


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## xInfamuzPunjabix (Jul 29, 2006)

howcome we dont see Mumbai (bombay) in the list...i mean i know it wouldnt be the BEST in asia but it still is in the top 10 =\ all the trade with india is done thru mumbai


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## kenworth (Jun 20, 2006)

i think best city's make bussines:

1.Tokyo
2.Seoul
3.HK


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## aranetacoliseum (Jun 8, 2005)

1.tokyo
2.singapore
3.hongkong
4.seoul
5.shanghai
6.KL
7.taipei
8.osaka 
9.bangkok
10.manila


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

cosmoManila said:


> ^^Yup, exactly my point.
> 
> HK and Singapore both lack in natural resources. However, the former has mainland China anyway.


Despite of the lack in natural resources, both can make up through services.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Looks like there is a heavy focus on East Asia. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Dubai is rising quite rapidly, and they are quite aggressive in internationalizing its reach (ie. ports).


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

hkskyline said:


> Looks like there is a heavy focus on East Asia. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Dubai is rising quite rapidly, and they are quite aggressive in internationalizing its reach (ie. ports).


From the looks of it, I think Dubai is positioning itself to become the centre of The Middle East. Sort of like what HK or Singapore is doing to it's regions.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> From the looks of it, I think Dubai is positioning itself to become the centre of The Middle East. Sort of like what HK or Singapore is doing to it's regions.


Well that's the obvious first step - to be the regional centre, and leverage that to go international. That's what Hong Kong went through.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

hkskyline said:


> Well that's the obvious first step - to be the regional centre, and leverage that to go international. That's what Hong Kong went through.


One advantage that Dubai has compared to other Middle Eastern cities is that, it is less strict and more open.

It is also diversed where the native Emirati are only minorities!


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

WANCH said:


> One advantage that Dubai has compared to other Middle Eastern cities is that, it is less strict and more open.


I think Dubai's success factor is its deep pockets and ability to buy up an international clout very quickly, especially Emirates and DPH. Notice tourists and businesspeople don't even need to clear customs and enter Dubai but they'll deal with their companies at a global level.


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## kashyap3 (Jul 11, 2006)

dubai's success factor is the pumping of oil money to make everything attractive and lucrative for businesses


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## Rachmaninov (Aug 5, 2004)

kashyap3 said:


> dubai's success factor is the pumping of oil money to make everything attractive and lucrative for businesses



^^ Oil money only accounts for 7% of Dubai's GDP.


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## Sinjin P. (Jul 17, 2005)

CvC in disguise? :dunno:


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## lusorod (Mar 3, 2008)

To me Tokyo is one of Asia's best cities to do anything as well as business. I just love Tokyo, check out the video I made about it!


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## noi-pinuela (Jul 12, 2008)

for me, it is QATAR


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