Looking at Singapore's total GDP and then looking at Hong Kong, the gap has slowly become prominent
All of the statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are reproduced at the end of this article
In the last century, Hong Kong and Singapore's economic level was very prominent in the whole of Asia, so people have been classified as the "Asian Tigers", and the two are similar in size and history, so people have often compared the two for many years.
From 1995 to 2019, Hong Kong topped the list of free economies in the world for 25 consecutive years, so Singapore has always regarded it as a benchmark for economic development and promoted its own economic development, but in 2020, Singapore's economic score surpassed that of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong retreated to the second place in the world's free economies.
How did Singapore do that? There is one adjective that can be said to be more apt – bold and careful.
Singapore is located at the entrance and exit of the Strait of Malacca, in the sixties of the last century, when the shipping companies in Asia did not have a container ship, Singapore seized its geographical advantages and spent a huge amount of money to build a container port, which can be said to be very bold.
With the development of the global economy, container ships have become a regular mode of shipping, and the annual throughput of the Port of Singapore has reached 37.5 million TEUs in 2021.
With the world's leading shipping advantages, Singapore's economic development rate has also remained at a high level, according to data released by the Singapore Economic Development Board, Singapore attracted S$22.5 billion in fixed asset investment last year, an increase of 90.8%.
In addition to the local port, the Singapore government is also very developed in the financial and manufacturing industries, and today it is not only the largest foreign exchange market in the Asia-Pacific region, but also accounts for a quarter of Singapore's total annual GDP.
While developing the country's economy, the Singapore government has not forgotten to improve the happiness index of local people's lives.
Singapore has a population of nearly 5.64 million, but with an area of only 733.1 square kilometres, the population density is quite high, which generally means that people are not very convenient to travel, and the traffic problem is very serious.
However, this is not the case in Singapore, where they divide the whole of Singapore into different "neighborhoods" in urban planning, so that people can meet their daily needs without having to engage in large-scale activities, which also reduces the need for long-distance transportation for local people.
The local architecture is also very distinctive, with the ground floor providing more open space for people to move through without having to congregate on the road.
The best way to reduce traffic jams is to limit the number of private cars, and the fewer cars there are, the fewer traffic jams there will be.
If local people want to buy a car, in accordance with the requirements of the local government, they must first buy a "car ownership certificate", and in the bidding for the car ownership certificate on December 10, the transaction price of small and medium-sized cars was converted into RMB, about 460,000 yuan, and it is valid for only ten years, and it will be purchased again when it expires, which greatly limits the number of local cars.
However, Singapore is not blindly restrictive, in order to ensure the travel of locals, Singapore's public transportation lines are very dense and cheap, so the happiness index of locals is also relatively high.
For decades, Singapore has been bold and meticulous, both internal and external, and has been playing catch-up, laying the foundation for its future to become the world's top free economy.
During the epidemic, the global economy was hit hard, and how to solve the various problems that arose in society at that time was a difficult problem for all countries and regions.
That's when Singapore seized the opportunity, vigorously developing tourism on the one hand, and giving the green light to foreign talents on the other, and even allowing those who meet the regulations to settle directly there.
The local container trade has not been left behind, and despite the decline in global container trade after the epidemic, the number of containers handled by it will still reach 37.3 million TEU in 2022, maintaining its position as the world's largest transshipment port.
Driven by many policies, Singapore's GDP reached US$466.8 billion in 2022, with a per capita GDP of US$88,200, becoming the first in Asia.
On the other hand, Hong Kong is more cautious after the epidemic and has not made any big moves, with a GDP of US$359.8 billion in 2022 and a per capita GDP of US$49,000.
In the final analysis, a large part of the reason for the economic differences between the two regions is due to the epidemic in the previous two years, and it is believed that in the near future, Hong Kong will be able to shake off the impact of the epidemic and return to the peak of that year.
Resources:
The ambition of the Port of Singapore
How does Singapore plan for its future development, and what is its outlook for China-New Zealand relations? CCTV interviewed Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
With a drop of S$20,000 a month, will the price of Singapore's car ownership permit be even lower next year?_The Paper
