Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai are three major city states of international standing in Asia. All of them have undergone a phenomenal growth in the last few decades and plays a very pivotal role in the economy of their respective nations and regions.The given analysis has done a comparison of the following places across a wide range of qualitative as well as quantitative parameters.

1. 2012
Comparison of the three rising
stars of the East
Paritosh Kashyap
Comparison of the three rising stars of
the East
01-Jan-12

2. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai are three major city states of international standing in Asia.
All of them have undergone a phenomenal growth in the last few decades and plays a very
pivotal role in the economy of their respective nations and regions. Considered among some of
the best marketed destinations in the globe; they bring in a huge amount of investments along
with human capital. All these three city states constantly feature among the list of top 10 most
visited cities in the world. The given analysis has done a comparison of the following places
across a wide range of qualitative as well as quantitative parameters.
General Introduction
Dubai: is one of the most well marketed destinations across the globe. In the three
decades, the small emirate has seen itself leapfrogging from a sleepy town to one of the
biggest success saga of Middle East. Placed between the cross roads of East and West,
Dubai is also sometimes known as the gateway of the Middle East to the world. The
biggest strength of Dubai lies in its visionary and extremely efficient leadership and
liberal culture- helping it attract expats from all over the world. It is among the very first
Gulf States that has successfully diversified its economy into various sectors such as-
tourism, real estates, retail, trade, media, financial services etc.
The very first thing that comes to mind with brand Dubai is the state of art real estate
constructions. Dubai boasts some of the biggest, most expensive, state of the art
buildings, hotels and real estate assignments- Al Burj, Burj Khalifa, Palm islands etc.
Other than these world famous landmarks Dubai offers plethora of state of the art
shopping malls, amusement parks, museums, resorts and spa, golf courses, sports
stadiums, convention centers etc.
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3. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Singapore: The small city state which once got freedom in 1963 from Malaysia; is not
only among one of the most visited cities across the globe but also an epicenter of trade,
commerce, finance, technology and innovation. Considered among the biggest success
sagas of 20th centuries, Singapore had witnessed an average growth rate of 7.9 percent
since 1963. The Singapore’s success story is based on four pillars- liberal govt. policies,
skilled workforce, state of the art sea ports and strategic location.
During the time of 60’s and 70’s when this tiny state was suffering from high
unemployment, liberal policy frame work was put in place along with investments in
labor incentive industries. In the later stage, Singapore successfully transformed itself
from a labor incentive industry to an innovation driven industry. Today it is home to
around 500 financial institutions and most of the MNCs of the world. It also has a
numero uno position in the “ease of doing business index” (World Bank data, 2010).
Singapore is also great tourist hub with state of the art hotels, resorts, shopping malls,
casinos etc. In 2009 it received 9.7 million tourists and was among the list of most visited
cities in the world (annual report on tourism statistics 2009, 2011).
Hong Kong: It’s a place where East meets the West. Before being handed over to China
in 1997, Hong Kong was under British Rule. Even today other than foreign relations and
military defense, it maintains a high degree of autonomy. In contrast to mainland China,
it enjoys a capitalist structure marked by free trade and low taxation. It is considered as
one of the freest economies of the world. Famous economist Milton Friedman once
described that if someone wants to see free economy, he should go to go to Hong Kong.
Like Singapore it is a major trade and financial center.
In line with the other three Asian tigers (Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea) Hong
Kong underwent industrialization during 60’s and successfully transformed into a
service sector economy during 80’s. In 2010 service sector has accounted for 92.5
percentage of GDP, against Industry contributing just 7.4 percentages (CIA World Fact
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4. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Book, 2010). A blend of Chinese and Western culture, Hong Kong is also a fabulous
tourist destination attracting tourists from all over the globe.
Demographics
All these three places are trade centers and financial capitals of their respective regions, besides
being great tourist destinations; there by attracting a large number of expats- businessmen,
travelers, working professionals, academicians, celebrities etc. According to the survey
conducted by Dubai Statistics Center in 2006, 17 percent of the population consists of local
Emiratis whereas the rest 71 percent of the population consist of Asian which mainly includes-
Indian, Pakistani, Srilankan, etc. 3 percentage of population has been categorized as Western.
In contrast to this in Hong Kong, according to 2006 census 95 percentages of the work force is
Chinese followed by Filipino (1.6 percentage), Indonesian (1.3 percentage) and others 2.1
percentage (Index Mundi, 2011). In Singapore out of the total population of 5.08 million, 3.77
million are Singapore residents against 1.31 million foreign residents (Comprising of tourists).
Out of 3.77 million, residents 3.23 million are citizens where as 0.54 millions are permanent
residents. Major ethnic communities include Chinese, Malay, and Indians etc. 0.3 percentage of
the population can be categorized as Western (Department of statistics Singapore, 2011).
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5. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Hong Kong 7.12
Singapore 5.07
Dubai 1.9
0 2 4 6 8
Fig 1: compares the population of three states for the year 2010. Source of data: Dubai Statistics
center, Singapore Statistics center and CIA World fact book.
8
7 6.94 7.12
6.87
6
5 5.24 5.07
4.79
4.27 Hong Kong
4 4.03
3.52 Singapore
3 3.05
Dubai
2.41
2 2.07 1.9
1.3
1 0.9
0.6
0.2 0.275
0
1970 1980 1990 2000 2005 2010
Fig 2: Shows the population of the three city states in millions, over the period of time. Source of
data: Hong Kong year book, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Department of Statistics Singapore.
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6. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Area (SQ Km) Population Density Coast Line
Hong Kong 1104 6480 733
Singapore 778 7315 193
Dubai 1,287.4 408.18 70
Table 1: compares the three city states across geographical parameters.
Median Age Literacy (percentage) Annual Population
Growth (percentage)
Hong Kong 43.4 93.5 0.45
Singapore 47 95.9 1.8
Dubai 27 90 1.6
Table 2: compares the three city states across various parameters. Reference year: 2010; Source
of data: US department of State, Index Mundi etc.
Economics
The following section will compare the three city states across some of the economic
parameters- Gross Domestic product (GDP), Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), Cost of living
Index etc.
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7. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Hong Kong 325.8
Singapore 291.9
Dubai 79.9
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Fig 3: showing the GDP of the three city states, US $ billions, for the year 2010. Source: CIA Fact
Book, Al Arabia news.
16
14 14.5
12
10
8.7 8.8
8 Dubai
7.4
7.1 7 7
6 6.4
6.1 Singapore
5 5.1
4 Hong Kong
2 2.3
1.5 1.4
0
-0.7
-0.8
-2 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
-2.7
-4
Fig 4: showing the GDP growth rate of the three city states in the past few years. Source: World
Bank, Dubai Statistics Center
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8. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
80
70 68.9
60 59.6
54.4 52.4
50
45 Dubai
40 38.6
37 Singapore
33.6
30 29.3
Hong Kong
20 21.7
15.5 16.6 15.3
11.6 13.7
10 10.2 8.6
4
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Fig 5: showing FDI inflow of the three city states in US $ billions, over the last 6 years. Source:
World Bank, Dubai Statistics center.
CPI Rent Index Groceries Index
Hong Kong 80.54 98.69 81.24
Singapore 100.55 90.06 93.59
Dubai 86.39 67.87 69.03
Table 3: compares the 3 city states across various cost of living indices. Source: NUMBEO
Tourism statistics
Other than being epicenter of trade, commerce and financial activities, the three states are also
considered among some of the greatest tourist destinations in the globe. Constantly featuring
among the top 10 most visited cities in the globe, they have some of the most magnificent hotels,
resorts, casinos, convention centers, amusement parks etc. The following line graph of the
report will compare the 3 city states in terms of annual tourist arrivals
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9. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
40
35 36
30 29.5 29.6
28.2
25 25.3
23.5
21.5 Dubai
20
Singapore
15
Hong Kong
11.6
10 9.8 10.3 10.1 9.7
8.9 7.8 8.7
7.69 7.01 7.7
6.2 6.5
5 4.8
0
2002 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Fig 6: showing annual arrival of tourists in millions. Source: Dubai Tourism and Commercial
Marketing (DTCM), Press releases by Hong Kong tourism board, Singapore Tourism Board.
The comparatively higher figure for Hong Kong is on account on Chinese travelers, which
account for approximately 2/3rd of tourist arrival.
BRAND ESSENCE
This part of the report will try figuring out one word which can describe the brand of these city
states.
Dubai had successfully ventured into wide range of activities ranging from various forms of
tourism (leisure, shopping, sports, cultural, dessert, business etc)- trade, businesses, industries
etc but one word describing brand Dubai can be luxury. It’s a place where modern day
dynamism blends well with traditional Arabic tranquility. Be it the state of the art hotels or
resorts, shopping malls or villas, Dubai reflects luxury everywhere.
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10. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
For Singapore that one word could be “innovation”. Singapore is the hub of high tech
innovation. According to Global Innovation Index 2011, Singapore has been ranked as 3 rd most
innovative nation in the world and 1st in Asia (Sgentrepreneurs.com, 2011).
Similarly one word that can reflect the brand essence of city state Hong Kong could be
“liberty”. Hong Kong is one of the most free and liberal states in the world. It practices liberty
in almost every sphere of life- economic, social, political, etc. It offers a top notch living
conditions to its residents. Ranked 13th on the Human Development Index, it is one of the best
places to live. Singapore has a rank of 26, whereas Dubai (UAE) has a rank of 30 (Human
Development Index and its Component, 2011).
Dubai-
Luxury
Singapore-
Innovative
Hong KONG-Liberal
Fig 8: Shows the brand essence of the three city states in one word.
Analysis & Conclusion
The given report had tried analyzing the three city states of Asia across various parameters
related to demography, economy, tourism etc. With the help of various charts it could be seen
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11. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
that Dubai is still catching up with the Singapore and Hong Kong and may take some more
time to reach their level.
Dubai is an Emirate with extremely big ambitions. For instance by 2015, the Dubai Tourism and
Commercial Marketing aims at reaching an annual tourist arrival of 15 million. Though time
will tell how far Dubai will excel to realize this ambition- but if realized Dubai will be the most
visited tourist destination in the world. Similarly in other spheres also the 2nd largest emirate of
UAE holds huge ambitions. Exp: Jebel Ali, the largest man made harbor is also undergoing
expansion and once completed in 2030- is expected to be the biggest container port in the world.
The social and economic structures of these three city states have their own similarities as well
as differences. Singapore and Hong Kong are quite synonymous to each other in terms of
knowledge economy, high degree of social freedom & liberty and international trade centers
however Dubai offers a slightly different case.
Though Dubai has successfully diversified its economy (presently Hydrocarbons account for
only 2.1 percentage of GDP, contrary to 1985, when it had a giant share of 55 percentages) into
real estate, trade and tourism; it is still far behind from becoming a knowledge economy.
Similarly in terms of demographic break up, Dubai’s economy is completely dependent on
expats, in contrast to local Emiratis which constitute only 17 percentage of population
(Dubaidreams.net, 2011). It is the other way round in Hong Kong and Singapore.
year % of oil revenue in Dubai’s GDP
1985 55 %
2000 10%
2003 7%
2005 5.4%
2010 2.1%
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12. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
Table 4: shows the diminishing percentage of oil in Dubai’s GDP. Source: USA Today, AME
info.com, Dubai Chamber of Commerce.
Dubai has its own advantage. It is yet to realize its full potential and hence has a long way to go.
In the form of its ambitious 2015 plan, it aims at implementing strong social and economic
reforms and transformations. It is one of the fastest growing Emirates and prior to the economic
crisis that led to real estate bust was enjoying a double digit growth rate. Considered as an
epicenter of trade, finance, investments, culture and tourism in the Middle East region, it had
help attracting a lot of investments, trade and human capital for the region.
If IT and Technology defines Singapore and Hong Kong; real estate defines Dubai. It is marked
by luxury, which gets reflected in the wide range of high profile construction projects incubated
by the Emirate. One of the reasons, it can accommodate such projects, is the availability of large
amount of free space. While Singapore and Hong Kong are becoming vertical cities, Dubai still
enjoys a population density of 408 per square Kilometer, much lesser than most of the major
cities in the world. It is also comparatively economical in comparison to the other two cities. (as
shown in table 3). In a nutshell, Dubai has carved a unique niche for itself. Created amidst a
dessert, it has successfully transformed itself from a sleepy oil rich emirate, where once
hydrocarbon accounted for more than 50 percentage of GDP to one of the most economically
diversified and socially liberal state in the region.
In terms of political structure Dubai and Singapore share a similar kind of structure. Both of
them are blessed with visionary political leadership, which played a pivotal role in their
exorbitant growth. They have got an extremely efficient political and bureaucratic apparatus,
known for executing big projects swiftly. Contrary to this in Hong Kong, govt. has a minimal
role to play in the economic ambit. In fact Hong Kong has one of the most liberal economies
across the globe.
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13. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
In spite of having differences across various economic and social parameters, there are also lots
of things common in the three states. On Economic front all of them have liberal economic
policies marked by low tax and tariff rates, helping them attract a large amount of investments
and top notch human capital. All of them have shown phenomenal growth rate in the recent
past. They share a lot of similarities in terms of landscape and geography. They are islands,
have extended coastlines, and are situated in strategic locations, which helped them morphed
into excellent trading centers.
Not blessed with much of exotic natural landscapes, they made huge investments in developing
state of the art hotels, beach resorts, golf courses, convention centers, shopping malls; there by
transforming into magnificent leisure and business tourism destination. High tourist arrivals
have also been very advantageous for their retail sector. On social front, all three of them are
marked by open and liberal cosmopolitan culture, attracting expats from all over the globe and
providing a platform to grow and flourish. This ability of attracting diversified human resource
from various parts of globe had eventually been very beneficial to them.
The three city states converges as well as diverges across different parameters; but one thing
that is common to all is the phenomenal success story they have scripted for themselves in such
a small interval of time. They came from nowhere and today are destinations of international
standing. These city states, developed from scratch are product of- strategic planning, die hard
entrepreneurial spirit and openness towards change. Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai are the
rising stars of the East, without any substantial past, but definitely with an illustrious present
and future.
Reference:
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14. Comparison of the three rising stars of the East
1> Index Mundi, 2011, Hong Kong demographics profile, available at <
http://www.indexmundi.com/hong_kong/demographics_profile.html>
2> World Bank, 2010, ease of doing business index, available at
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.BUS.EASE.XQ
3> CIA World Fact Book, 2010, Economy, available
athttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hk.html
4> Annual statistics on tourism sector 2009, tourism sector performance, 2011, p-4
5> Department of Statistics, 2011, Census of Population 2010, p-13
6> Sgentrepreneurs.com, 2011, Global Innovation Index 2011, available at <
http://sgentrepreneurs.com/commentary/2011/07/09/singapore-is-most-innovative-
country-in-asia/>
7> Human Development Index and its component, 20011, available at <
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Table1.pdf>
8> Dubai Dreams, 2009, Race and Nationality in Dubai, available at <
http://www.dubaidreams.net/c/about/population-and-demographics/>
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