Singapore has been ranked as Asia’s leading global city, according to a study released by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The study ranks cities of the world across a number of parameters such as ease of doing business and livability.
Though Singapore took the top spot for an Asian city, it finished in ninth place among all the 26 cities surveyed.
Results show Singapore to be doing well in key areas such as ease of doing business, economic clout, technology readiness and health, safety and security.
Singapore ranked sixth when it came to economic clout, just behind London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Madrid.
Experts said that larger listings and improved transparency could help move the city state further up the ladder.
Gautam Banerjee, executive chairman of PwC Singapore, said: “One of the things that we obviously need to focus on is in terms of economic clout, and economic significance is to have more companies with larger market capitalisations to be listed on our stock exchange.
“It is something I know we have focused on, and I think this year itself, we have done very well with the listing of the Hutchison Port Trust. We had the flexibility in our system to allow a business trust to be floated on our stock exchange.”
On Tuesday, a council appointed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore released a consultation paper seeking public feedback on revisions to the Code of Corporate Governance for Singapore-listed companies.
The council said the effort is critical in maintaining investor confidence and enhancing Singapore’s reputation as a leading and trusted financial centre.
Mr Banerjee added that this is an important step to moving Singapore forward not only as a leading business centre, but also as a trusted business centre.
He said: “I believe they will go a long way in improving the trust that stakeholders like to see in leading business cities. I think it all adds to the multi-faceted strengths of Singapore as Asia’s global city.”
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 15 Jun 2011