Chinese And Australian Cities Score Well In fDi's Asia-Pacific Cities Of The Future 2013/14 Rankings

With continually declining FDI levels, Chinese and Australian cities scored particularly well in fDi Magazine's Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future 2013/14 rankings, each with cities in the top ten.

Hong Kong prevailed in the rankings, displacing Singapore to claim first position. This is a significant result for the city, which gained five places from the previous 2011/12 rankings. Major investments into Hong Kong include UK-based Global Switch, which invested $361m in 2012, as well as China-based GDS Services and Kuwait-based Agility Post, which created 397 jobs in the same year.

At the same time Beijing gained four places in the overall ranking, rising from seventh place in 2011/12, to rank third. The city performed well in Economic Potential (ranking second) and in Business Friendliness (third).

Australian and New Zealand cities dominated the Labour Environment category, claiming six of the top ten places. Wellington topped the category, with Newcastle, Melbourne, Canberra, Auckland and Brisbane ranking third, fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth, respectively. The high number of university graduates in these countries, as well as their superior quality of life, make them attractive for investors.

Other highlights

- Indian cities were represented in the Economic Potential category with two entries, Mumbai ranking fourth and Bangalore in seventh place. Mumbai is a high driver of outward FDI, according to fDi Markets, while Bangalore scored very highly in terms of the level of inward and outward FDI and the number of jobs this created. Mumbai and Bangalore are the only Indian cities to feature in any categories.
- Singapore ranked second overall, down one place from the previous ranking. The city performed well in most categories, achieving first place in the Economic Potential category and ranking second in both Infrastructure and Business Friendliness.
- Japanese cities scored extremely well in the Infrastructure category, claiming five of the top ten places. Yokohama ranked fourth, with Chiba, Tokyo, Kitakyushu and Kobe claiming fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth places, respectively. These locations placed due to the quality and level of their transportation networks, as well as the high level of internet connectivity and speed available throughout the country.
- In the Business Friendliness category, Chinese cities came out on top, claiming five of the top ten places.
- Hong Kong places a high importance on its FDI strategy, with a network of overseas offices to follow potential leads for investment and a social media strategy to target investors.
- Phnom Penh retained the title of most cost-effective city in this year's rankings. Investors are drawn to the city by its low taxes and import/export costs.
- There were several new entries to the FDI Strategy category, with Chengdu, Adelaide,Yokohama and Wuxi placing in the top ten, having not featured in the 2011/12 rankings.
- Brisbane ranked in second place in the FDI strategy category, rising two places from the previous rankings in 2011/12, just displacing Melbourne which slipped into third place.

- Ends -

For further information please contact:

Dino Ribeiro
E: dino.ribeiro@ft.com
T: +44(0)20 7873 3964 / +44 (0)7739 924084

The full results are available on http://www.fdiintelligence.com/Locations/Asia-Pacific/Asia-Pacific-Cities-of-the-Future-2013-14. You may need to go through a short registration process to access the article.

Notes to Editors:

About the ranking:

To create a shortlist for fDi's Asia-Pacific Cities of theFuture 2013/2014, the fDi Intelligence division of the Financial Times collected data using the specialist online FDI tools fDi Benchmark and fDi Markets, as well as other sources. Data was collected for 95 cities under five categories: Economic Potential, Labour Environment, Cost Effectiveness, Infrastructure and Business Friendliness.

In addition, surveys were collected under a sixth category, FDI Strategy. In this category, cities submitted details about their strategy for promoting FDI, which was then scored by fDi's judging panel. Cities scored up to a maximum of 10 points for each data point, which were weighted by importance to the FDI decision making process to compile the subcategory rankings as well as the overall Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future ranking.

About fDi Magazine:

fDi Magazine (www.fDiIntelligence.com) is a specialist publication which reports on crossborder investment and is read by senior-level executives at multinational corporations and others involved in corporate greenfield site-selection decisions. A bi-monthly publication, fDi Magazine is part of the fDi Intelligence division of the Financial Times.

About fDi Intelligence:

fDi Intelligence is the largest FDI centre of excellence globally. Specialising in all areas relating to foreign direct investment and investment promotion, the full suite of services includes: location advertising to generate brand awareness; industry-leading intelligence tools to develop FDI strategies and identify potential investors; and tailored FDI events and investor roundtables to meet target companies and generate business leads.

Products within the portfolio include fDi Markets, a database tracking crossborder greenfield investment on a real-time basis; fDi Benchmark, a database which benchmarks global locations on their attractiveness to foreign investors; and fDi Magazine.

About the Financial Times:

The Financial Times, one of the world's leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT's total paid for readership is 629,000 (Deloitte assured, Q3 2013). FT.com has almost 387,000 online subscribers (Deloitte assured, Q3 2013) and the newspaper has a global print circulation of 242,873 (ABCs, October 2013). FT education products now serve 25 of the world's top 50 business schools.