New global realities: Asia Pacific

A recent business trip to Perth, Western Australia offered a vivid snapshot of the region's momentum. Western Australia is buzzing with growth. New mining explorations and associated support industries are providing solid commodity-based expansion for the region, supported by modern infrastructure and a labour market supplied in part by the University of Western Australia. Walking the streets of Perth CBD, the energy and excitement of this modern gold rush is palpable.

Hong Kong tells a similar story on a larger scale. Surrounded by skyscrapers, new construction projects, hustling streets of workers and consumers, and one of the busiest trade ports in the world, the city is a vivid demonstration of what Asian economic momentum looks like up close.

It is no wonder that, amid the ongoing Eurozone crisis, emerging market regions are attracting intense interest. During this visit, I caught a replay of a recent dialogue between DeAnne Julius of the Institute of International Affairs and Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's former Prime Minister. Asked what Singapore must continue to focus on to sustain its remarkable development, Lee did not hesitate: good governance and the pursuit of anti-corruption, strong relations with its neighbours, and the promotion of jobs based on merit rather than race or background. These, he argued, are the core principles on which sustainable growth must rest.

With recent US and European economic difficulties attributable in significant part to poor governance in financial services, the lesson of the hare and the tortoise comes to mind. Singapore may have grown gradually, but it is now a serious global economy. Its allegiance to core principles is paying dividends. The same cannot yet be said for its larger neighbours, India and China — but it will be the perceived-fairer economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore that will provide increasingly competitive and attractive bases for investment, ones that Western states will be growing ever more anxious about in the years ahead.