With an uncertain future in Hong Kong, investors look to Singapore

This appeared in The Millennial Source

The rapid industrialization and high economic growth rate Hong Kong saw in the 1960s led to it being labeled as one of the four “Asian Tigers,” with seemingly limitless potential.

Today, though, the situation is quite different. Hong Kong’s political situation has grown more uncertain by the day and now, with the passage of a new national security bill, investors are considering departing Hong Kong for another of the former Asian Tigers — Singapore.

Hong Kong’s situation

Despite the two economies having once been connected and achieving historic economic success together, their paths have diverged more than ever, largely due to Hong Kong’s political and social unrest.

Once a British colony, after 1997, the special administrative region (SAR) was handed back to mainland China provided that the city would continue operating under the one country, two systems framework. However, differences in how this promise was interpreted has led to periodic unrest in the city, especially over the last 12 months.

In 2019, Hong Kong saw an eruption of anti-government protests. Demonstrations that were initially provoked by a contentious extradition bill (now tabled)…