On Tuesday, the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development published its World Talent Ranking 2025, with Hong Kong’s ranking leaping to fourth place globally from ninth last year, marking the city’s highest-ever ranking and placing it first in Asia.

The global chart was topped by Switzerland, Luxembourg and Iceland, with Singapore dropping five places to seventh.

For the second consecutive year, Hong Kong improved across all three ranked talent-competitiveness factors. Its ranking rose by eight places to 20th in “appeal”, and by one place for both “readiness” and “investment and development”, to third and 12th places respectively.

Among the indicators, Hong Kong continued to top the ranking in percentage of graduates in the sciences. The city rose to third in availability of finance skills and ranked fifth in the remuneration of management as well as effectiveness of management education.

Speaking at the Hong Kong-Asean Summit 2025, also on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that Hong Kong’s ranking has climbed 12 places over the past two years and that it is the only city in the world with as many as five universities in the world’s top 100, adding that the city’s excellent institutions nurture world-class scientists and research talent in different disciplines.

As an old Chinese proverb goes, “Don’t miss opportunities: Time doesn’t come round again.” This is perfectly applicable to Hong Kong, which is eager to grasp any opportunities to attract investment, talent and innovation.

Hong Kong excels in attracting world talent, education and innovation, and the combination of excelling in these three areas plus its status as one of the world’s most important financial centers are what make the city so uniquely competitive and attractive.

By fostering collaboration between academia, business, and government, Hong Kong can create a fertile ground for entrepreneurship and emerging industries, from AI to green finance. Initiatives such as the Greater Bay Area development provide additional opportunities to deepen integration and enhance regional synergies, further amplifying Hong Kong’s role as a gateway for investment, ideas, and innovation

For Hong Kong — a city that keeps enhancing its financial center status year after year — all of its programs aimed at attracting talent and investment are of vital importance.

To remain competitive, initiatives that foster entrepreneurship and attract top global talent are essential. Incentivizing startups through tax breaks and access to funding can stimulate growth in areas like artificial intelligence, blockchain, and digital entertainment. Supporting collaboration between businesses, academia, and the government can spur innovation ecosystems, ensuring that traditional strengths evolve alongside emerging opportunities.

Hong Kong’s ability to attract and retain global talent has long been a pillar of its economic success. However, it is undeniable that a talent shortage has been a problem for Hong Kong these last few years. For several reasons, Hong Kong lost thousands of residents during the pandemic; therefore, if it wants to maintain and even enhance its role as one of the major financial centers of the world, it needs to plan how to attract (or re-attract) talent and investment.

One of the areas that Lee focused on when delivering his 2024 Policy Address was that of attracting and retaining talent, adopting measures that include expanding the list of universities covered by the Top Talent Pass Scheme, granting longer visas to high-income talent, and proactively seeking top-notch professionals.

According to the Best Student Cities 2026 rankings by UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), released in mid-July, Hong Kong’s ranking among the world’s best cities for international students jumped to 17th place as more students found it desirable to study in the city.

Hong Kong’s ranking jumped five spots compared to last year, with its scores under the categories of affordability, student views, desirability, student mix, and rankings having improved. Hong Kong ranked seventh in Asia on the annual list, while Seoul topped the rankings globally, followed by Tokyo. Among the six key categories considered in the ranking, Hong Kong’s score improved the most in affordability, increasing from 32.7 to 38.8 this year.

Furthermore, in the 2026 QS World University Rankings released in June, five Hong Kong universities secured positions in the top 100, with the University of Hong Kong rising to 11th globally — the highest place obtained by a Chinese university in the ranking’s history.

In early March, QS released its QS World University Rankings by Subject, comparing over 21,000 academic offerings taken by students at more than 1,700 universities across the world in 55 subjects and five faculty areas.

Also, Hong Kong accounted for the most universities in Asia among a global top 50 ranking for data science and AI courses, with its overall contributions to the list only surpassed by the United States.

Hong Kong is not only a financial hub but also an innovation hub, as demonstrated by the Global Innovation Index 2025 top 100 innovation ranking published recently by the World Intellectual Property Organization, in which the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster ranked first globally.  

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou technology hub has overtaken Tokyo-Yokohama to become the world’s largest innovation cluster, according to the index.

To sum up, projects like the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area allow Hong Kong to continue enhancing its role as one of the world’s most important financial centers, and help the city to excel in other areas such as innovation, positioning it to become an innovation powerhouse. With the government’s support, the city promotes good education and attracts talent — all factors that allow Hong Kong to have such a vibrant ecosystem.

Hong Kong’s unique status makes it a magnet for global talent. The combination of strong universities, a thriving innovative ecosystem, and proactive government policies ensures that the city will continue to strengthen its competitiveness in the years to come. Talent attraction and retention are no longer optional strategies, but fundamental pillars of sustainable growth, particularly in a fast-changing global economy where knowledge and skills define success.

By fostering collaboration between academia, business, and government, Hong Kong can create a fertile ground for entrepreneurship and emerging industries, from AI to green finance. Initiatives such as the Greater Bay Area development provide additional opportunities to deepen integration and enhance regional synergies, further amplifying Hong Kong’s role as a gateway for investment, ideas, and innovation.

The author is a fintech adviser, a researcher and a former business analyst for a Hong Kong publicly listed company.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.