The IMD World Competitiveness Centre recently launched its 2018 IMD World Talent Ranking which compares countries in terms of developing, attracting, and retaining skilled professionals. According to the rankings, Singapore retained its position on the 13th spot, ahead of Hong Kong which stood at 18th position.

Singapore was ranked second in the readiness category which measures the availability of skills and competencies, programs for international students, student mobility inbound, etc. It also grabbed the 15th spot for proving high quality of life and strong institutional frameworks in place and 34th place in the investment and development category.

While Singapore ranks fairly high in developing, attracting, and retaining skilled professionals but the city lags behind in terms of public investments in education. A similar observation was made about Hong Kong. An IMD spokesperson was quoted saying in Singapore Business Review, “In small economies, it is much easier to implement educational policies in an efficient manner.

According to the report, the other factors that are causing risk to Singapore’s competitiveness include:

• High Cost of Living- According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the city holds the merit as the world’s most expensive to live in as it ranks as the costliest place to buy and run a car and third priciest destination to buy clothes.
  
  
• Growing tendency towards protectionism-The spokesperson from IMD added that in the last few years there has been an increase in the level of hostility towards foreign workers which can prove detrimental in the long run. “Both countries are declining in our assessment of “Talent Attractiveness” indicates that they are losing ground in favor of other neighboring countries, like China,” the spokesperson added.

Both countries (Singapore and Hong Kong) need to realize that global competition is a major force to improve the skills and compensation of domestic talent- IMD Spokesperson

According to the rankings, the European dominance was apparent in the global rankings with Norway, Austria, and the Netherlands rounding out the top five. Switzerland held on the first spot for the fifth consecutive year with Denmark on the second rank.