A guide to the growing potential of Asia as a centre for international relocation
A unique study of the world’s most popular cities for setting up global businesses has highlighted the increasing health of Asia’s economy.
The news is likely to alert several global companies to the prospect of relocating staff to the area.
The study, carried out by real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis, saw four of the top 5 places taken up by thriving Asian cities including Tokyo, Shanghai and Singapore.
The report analysed office locations for 280 international firms, including some of the most established global brands in the world.
The news follows a 2011 Annual Global CEO Survey, carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), which found that 90% of CEO’s questioned expected their businesses to grow in Asia throughout the next year.
This was closely followed by Latin America (84%); Africa (75%); the Middle East (72%); Easter Europe (70%).
Asian dominance
“Asia’s dominance in the ranking of the world’s leading business hubs is striking,” stated the report.
The results certainly do paint a picture of an emerging, prosperous location in which to set up your business.
191 of the firms questioned (approximately 68%) had an office in Hong Kong and 189 companies (67.5%) had property in Singapore.
Edward Farrelly, a director for the real estate firm, singled out Hong Kong for particular praise.
He felt Hong Kong was in a “unique position” because of its location, lack of ownership rules and international/highly skilled workforce.
“It (Hong Kong) is the key gateway city for accessing China and is set to benefit most from the gradual liberalisation of the Chinese financial services markets”, said Farrelly.
It is not all positive news for the southern Chinese City though. A recent study identified Hong Kong as the world’s most expensive place to rent office space in 2010.
Despite the obvious benefits of setting up business space in Asia, companies will also have to weigh them against costs and logistics before making any decisions on future moves.
There is also a great deal of factors to consider before relocating, a corporate relocation service can help with many of these.
