The International Business Hub Competition between Hong Kong and Singapore

Updated time: 13 Jun, 2019, 08:40 (UTC+08:00)

For many years, Hong Kong and Singapore have been competing for the crown of “Best Place of Doing Business” as both are international respected powerhouses within the Asia region and worldwide, respectively.

They both have world-class infrastructures and facilities while boasting tax-friendly policies, quick and easy company setup procedures and social stability.

However, both jurisdictions do have their similarities and differences when it comes to benefits between them which we will disclose for a better understanding as a particular jurisdiction might be more suitable to one person compared to the other.

Their similarities are noted in the table below:

Similarities	Hong Kong	Singapore
Location	Centre of Asia
Access to other cities	Major cities of Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and North America
Spoken language	English and Chinese
Time to set up a business	1 - 3 working days
Financial centre	Yes	Yes
Minimum Shareholder	1
Minimum Director	1

When it comes to the differences, Hong Kong and Singapore offer different benefits revolving around the setup of an offshore company:

Differences	Hong Kong	Singapore
Resident Director required	No	Yes
Statutory audits required	Yes	No
Corporate Income Tax (CIT) (%)	Capped at 16.5%	Capped at 17%
CIT Rebate	50% income under 2,000,000 HKD	50% income under 300,000 SGD
GST (VAT) Tax (%)	0	7
Personal Income Tax Rate	None	A flat rate of 15% charged for foreign-sourced income