Following a study conducted in partnership by Singapore’s Civil Service College and the Center for Demographics and Policy at California’s Chapman University, it seems that a future as a global city does not look likely for Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia’s capital ranked 31st out of the 47 worldwide cities considered in this study, falling within the same band as Mumbai and Johannesburg.
The study examined each city based on eight criteria: industry dominance, foreign direct investment, financial services, corporate headquarters, producer services, technology and media, air connectivity and diversity. While Singapore excelled for having one of the world’s best basic infrastructures, as well as scoring highly for business friendliness and competitiveness, Kuala Lumpur showed little influence over international trade. “These are significant centres of global production, but limited in their international scope and have little role in the ‘command and control’ of international commerce,” noted a report on the study. London’s The Economist predicted that in the next decade, KL would struggle to keep up with regional leaders.
Singapore has been dubbed “Asia’s premier global city”, ranking fourth overall behind London, New York and Paris. A history of British governance and law seems to have benefited the city, resulting in a critically acclaimed business climate.
KL fared a little better in a separate study, entitled “Hot Spots 2025: Benchmarking the future competitiveness of cities”, where it was awarded 31st place out of 120 cities, ranking higher than Bangkok, Jakarta and Hanoi. This study focused on “economic strength”, “financial maturity”, “global appeal”, “institutional character”, “physical capital”, “human capital” and ”environment and natural hazards”.
Kuala Lumpur was also recognized as an important player in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014, compiled by the Institute of management Development, where it was placed 12th, ahead of the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia.
Story from: The Malay Mail Online
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