There are no stopping Hong Kong’s success achievements

Hong Kong has done it again. It is first in Asia and fourth in the world in the World Talent Rankings by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD).
Not only is Hong Kong a key player in the world’s leading innovation cluster, but the city is also shooting up the charts as a global hub for top talent.

Since 2016 Switzerland has continually secured the top spot while second this year was Luxembourg, followed by Iceland third, Hong Kong fourth and Singapore in seventh place.

In global rankings, Hong Kong came first in graduates in science, fifth in the female labour force participation, third in the availability of finance skills and fifth in the effectiveness of management education, the key parameters used to allocate the rankings.

An interesting aspect in the IMD report was that the judiciary was ranked seventh in the world for being “fairly administrated.” In the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong remained unchanged as it continued to rank sixth in the East Asia and Pacific region and came 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions globally. The US came 26th. This is one aspect which critics should note, especially in the coming months when a number of high-profile national security cases come to court.

However, it was not all roses. Hong Kong reached its lowest ranking position in the cost-of-living index (66th). Also, further improvement could be undertaken in the quality of primary and secondary education, as measured by the pupil-teacher ratio (both ranked 19th).

Although primary and secondary education was rated rather low compared to other countries, it is an area which the Government is focussing close attention. In last year’s policy address the Chief Executive (CE) John Lee said the Government’s recurrent expenditure on education was on the rise, totalling $106.8 billion in 2024-25, an increase of nearly 50 per cent over expenditure 10 years ago. This is about 3.9 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product, which the Financial Secretary may consider improving in next year’s budget.

However, Hong Kong is doing well in tertiary education where it received top marks both locally and globally for graduates in sciences. The city boasts five of the world's top 100 universities with outstanding research talent, making it an international hub for exchanges and collaboration among high-calibre talent. This is to be further enriched with the Northern Metropolis University in the coming years. And this is where the city is providing a career for top talents with facilities available at the Cyberport and Science Park.

In fact, the CE made this a key topic in last year’s policy address with a chapter titled “Build Hong Kong into an International Hub for High-calibre Talents” and it is likely it will remain a key topic in this year’s address on September 17. He is expected to give updates on the establishment of the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, to co-ordinate and drive the integrated development of education, technology and talent. It will also formulate policies to attract and cultivate talent, foster the development of technologies, as well as promoting Hong Kong as an international hub for high-calibre talent.

By the end of August, more than 520 000 applications were received under various talent admission schemes, with some 350 000 applications approved.

The IMD report follows hot on the heels of The World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 top 100 innovation clusters published on September 1, in which the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster came first in the world for the first time.

This reflects the high international recognition of the I&T capacity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, indicating that it is an ideal place for global innovation and technology (I&T) talent to develop and grow their careers.

The GII captures the entrepreneurial activity and innovation finance within the clusters by emphasizing start-ups and spin-offs. Together, the metrics reveal those areas where there is a high concentration of inventors, scientific authors, and venture capital activity.

Investing in education has proved to be the answer for tomorrow’s world where innovation and technology is the key to development led by the Generation Z, those born in the era of the internet, smart phones and modern technology.

Mark Pinkstone

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Forbes magazine, which once infamously cited the “Death of Hong Kong” on its cover and later apologized for it, has again struck its poisonous pen into Hong Kong this time at its judiciary.

With the black hand of the Doughty Street Chambers in London, the “international legal team” for Jimmy Lai written all over it, the article likened Lai’s trial to “multiple Kafkaesque trials for fighting for freedom of speech and democracy in Hong Kong.” The author, Dr Ewelina U. Ochab was referring to the trial of Josef K., who was arrested and prosecuted by an incomprehensible legal system without ever knowing the charges against him, as depicted in a book by Franz Kafka, from Prague in the early 1920s.

This is an insult to Hong Kong’s judicial system. Hong Kong practices the common law system, similar to all British Commonwealth countries and the US. In fact, Hong Kong’s legal system is well regarded and in the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong remained unchanged as it continued to rank sixth in the East Asia and Pacific region and came 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions globally. The judges hearing the Lai trial were recommended by the Chief Justice as being the most experienced in handling national security laws. The legal system is comprehensible, and Jimmy Lai is fully aware of the charges made against him, which includes sedition and collusion with foreign forces.

Ochab made numerous reference to Lai being held in solitary confinement. If she had done her own homework and not rely on the word of the Doughty Street Chambers, she would know that Lai asked to be in solidarity and did not wish to mix with the other inmates. As a devout Catholic he attends mass every Sunday and receives holy communion. As for his health, yes, he is aging and is diabetic. But his local legal team told the court that he receives regular medical treatment and is provided with the necessary medications. The lawyers said they were satisfied with the treatment Lai receives while in custody.

She refers a survey by Doughty Street Chambers that was “chilling” to note that 12 prisoners who died during 2014 – 25 “closely match Mr Lai’s profile, being older, male diabetic prisoners. The most recent death of a diabetic prisoner was on June 28, 2025, of a man aged 74.” And that it was “deeply disturbing” to reveal a significant number of deaths of older prisoners and diabetic prisoners in circumstances where there “appears to have been a failure to identify a person’s deteriorating health condition in prison and a failure to transfer them to hospital in time for life-saving treatment.” This is a load of rubbish, again from the Doughty Street chambers. With a total prison population of 10,184 inmates, it is not surprising that some died of old age. It should also be noted that all penal institutions in Hong Kong have on-premises hospitals and are staffed by qualified healthcare personnel. In collaboration with Medical Officers from the Department of Health, round-the-clock basic health care services are provided in all institutions. Those in custody who need further treatment and investigations are referred to visiting medical specialists or public hospitals for follow-up.

This so-called survey appears to be unpublished but was given exclusively to Ochab for her article by Doughty Street chambers.

The public relations spin Doughty Street chambers has given to Jimmy Lai’s detention has proven effective with practically all western media having fallen for the “innocent” line to a man facing near treason charges. One can only imagine the tone of the coverage once the verdict is delivered.

And it continues. Only recently, Security Secretary Chris Tang wrote to The Economist condemning an article headlined “Jimmy Lai’s trial raises questions about how justice now works.” Similar letters were dispatched since the start of the trial to outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post . Total fiction appeared in most of the reports. If they were published in Hong Kong, they could be charged with contempt of court as would be the case in any other country.