So says an authority on global cities, Professor Saskia Sassen, at the start on Monday of a three-day conference focusing on Asian cities and societies, organised by the National University of Singapore.

A "global city" - a term coined by Prof Sassen in 1982 - refers to a city that boasts a mix of state-of-the-art resources and infrastructure, as well as the talent pool of people to service and finance the global operations of firms and markets.

"Singapore has been a global city for at least 10 years, and 1997 was an important year for Singapore in that respect as people thought that Hong Kong's return to China made Singapore the alternative to Hong Kong as a financial centre," Prof Sassen told Today.

The widespread belief propagated by the media then was that the Chinese government would interfere with Hong Kong's international financial operations, she explained.

"As it was, some Hong Kong-based firms and professionals did accept the Singapore Government's offer of visas to come to Singapore. But many more firms and professionals stayed in Hong Kong than one might have thought," said Prof Sassen. Why was this so?

Part of the reason, according to Prof Sassen, was that no matter how efficient the financial instruments of the global city, the specifics of the city matters.

"Once a centre has the basic infrastructure, built-up environment, talent pools and regulatory framework, their distinctive roles matter." Critical to Singapore is its role as a regional platform for international investors.

"For example, a foreign investor interested in the region may prefer to go through Singapore than Manila or Shanghai, even if they were looking to invest in the Philippines or China."

But Hong Kong has, once again, become an extremely powerful financial centre, and it is the "ultimate gateway" for China to the world and vice-versa.

"The incorporation of Hong Kong into mainland China in fact added to Hong Kong's importance."

As one of the top five currency exchange centres in the world, Singapore has other specialised advantages, but Prof Sassen believes that Singapore should think in terms of complementing Hong Kong rather than being in direct competition with it.

"Both cities have different functions in the global industry. Specifics of each city do matter; one financial centre is not like the other."

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