World Bank: HK retains attractiveness to business despite protests
The World Bank has released its annual ranking of countries for ease of doing business.
Singapore retains the first place, helped by the traditional pro-business stance of the PAP.
The surprise package however is Hong Kong which comes in Third, behind New Zealand. This is despite the massive pro-democracy protest that has hit the territory, which the PAP-controlled mainstream media had portrayed as a harbinger of doom for the city's economic prospects.
The ranking is based on the aggregate score across 10 indicators such as ease of getting credit, paying taxes and degree of protection accorded to minority investors.
Another stark observation is that except for Singapore, all the countries in the top 10 are full-fledged democracies that respect and guarantee their citizens' right to protest and speak freely.
The best example is 5th-placed South Korea which has a strong labour movement that has traditionally not shied away from confronting the elected government to protect workers' rights.
The World Bank ranking disproves the PAP's fallacious bogeyman theory that allowing for protests and demonstration will dampen investor confidence.
As Wendy Werner, quoted in the HK-based South China Morning Post, said:
"We have to distinguish … between the financial and economic impact of the demonstrations [and] the overall business climate," she said. "For the pro-democracy campaign to have any impact on Doing Business indicators it really [would] have to change something about the rules and regulations and their enforcement when it comes to trading, starting a business, registering property."
For far too long, the PAP has tied its survival to the continued growth of Singapore.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
The right of the citizenry to speak freely and demonstrate acts as a form of check on the government as well as a disincentive for it to misbehave.
This is important given that the Singapore Parliament is overwhelmingly dominated by the PAP which has also permeated various State agencies, resulting in a blurring of State and Party interests. On top of that, the Presidency is also occupied by a pro-PAP henchman who has proven unwilling to question the ruling Party.
Finally it is worth noting that those who protest are not looking at tearing down the civil service or destroying the country. Their anger is specifically directed at the PAP and its perceived self-serving policies.
For more information on the a World Bank ranking, go to:
http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings
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