Invest KOREA

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said yesterday that the city’s financial competitiveness ranking among the world’s 75 major cities regularly assessed by a British consulting group rose for the fourth consecutive time to a record high of 16th place.

In the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI) compiled by Britain’s Z/Yen Group twice a year, Seoul’s ranking in March climbed eight notches from six months earlier, according to Seoul city officials.

Seoul posted its fourth consecutive rise in the biannual GFCI report after the capital city was ranked in 35th place in September 2009, moving up 18 notches from March that year, city officials said.

The GFCI is an index that measures the financial competitiveness of 75 major cities around the world based on a survey among experts and analysis reports and is commissioned by the City of London Corp. and produced by the Z/Yen Group.

London ranked first in the September report, followed by New York. China’s emerging financial hub of Hong Kong was the top Asian city in third place, trailed by Singapore (fourth), Shanghai and Tokyo (tied for fifth), according to the report.

By category, the GFCI ranked Seoul third worldwide in terms of the potential to grow into a global financial hub.

In addition, the Korean capital was picked fourth in terms of the outlook for hosting branches of foreign financial institutions over the next several years.

With the aim of making Seoul one of the top 10 financial hubs in the world, the metropolitan government plans to work closely with the central government to lower entry and business barriers for global financial institutions and making a legal guarantee for foreign universities to establish MBA schools in the capital, officials said.

Source:  Yonhap News (March 21, 2011)