A report pointed out that my country has attracted more multinational companies to set up regional headquarters, and the number is much higher than that in Hong Kong.
According to a report released by Bloomberg Intelligence on Thursday (February 22), as of 2021, the regional headquarters of 4,200 multinational companies are located in Singapore. In Hong Kong, as of 2023, 1,336 multinational companies have set up regional headquarters there, down from 1,541 in 2019.
Many Chinese companies also tend to locate their regional headquarters in Singapore
The report pointed out that not only multinational companies tend to set up their regional headquarters in Singapore, but many Chinese companies also choose to do so to hedge geopolitical risks and expand global business. For example, TikTok and Shein have set up corporate headquarters in Singapore, and iQiyi has set up overseas bases locally.
The report said: "Singapore has better relations with Western countries, a larger talent pool, a diversified economy, and provides tax incentives. More and more global and even Chinese companies are choosing Singapore. Hong Kong is becoming the best Asian headquarters for international companies. Already behind.”
Multinational companies that have set up regional headquarters here include Microsoft, Google, Rolls-Royce, and General Motors.
Deloitte Singapore corporate tax leader Rohan Solapurkar said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao: "In the past few years, there has indeed been a trend of more multinational companies choosing to set up regional headquarters in Singapore rather than Hong Kong, especially many companies in the latter Do this during the epidemic.”
On the other hand, Hong Kong has performed relatively best in the international public offering (IPO) market. Although Hong Kong's IPO financing amount last year fell to US$5.9 billion from US$13.4 billion (approximately S$18 billion) in 2022, it is still higher than Singapore's US$32.5 million. The report pointed out that as more Chinese listed companies go to Hong Kong to seek secondary listings to raise overseas funds, Hong Kong's IPO market is expected to rebound this year, and the amount of funds raised may reach US$20 billion.