< Previous• Delhi NCR comprises the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. e area is home to more than 17 million people.• According to the World Bank, Delhi ranks as the No 1 city in India for starting a new business.• e service industry contributes the largest part of Delhi’s GDP, followed by manufacturing and agriculture.• Delhi’s large consumer market and its abundance of skilled labor have attracted signifi cant infl ows of foreign direct investment.Delhi National Capital Region5th3rdI met a hundred men going to Delhi, and every one is my brother.” POPE PAUL VI28.652° N77.2315° Eelev. 650 ft.ISTUTC+5:30Company Investment (US$M) JobsJaiprakash Associates Limited 5,208 —Honda Cars India Limited 2,412 —Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 752 —Honda Cars India 567 3,200Guangdong Oppo Mobile Telecom 340 —population 2018: 28,513,682projected population 2023: 32,941,309India• Detroit is home to 76 percent of U.S. automotive R&D investment. Approximately 90,000 engineers work in Michigan; 6,000 graduate from its universities each year.• Detroit and its cross-river Canadian neighbor, Windsor, Ontario, are collaborating more regularly on joint economic development initiatives. Recent examples include a joint proposal for securing Amazon’s HQ2 project and a March 6th bi-national workshop on connecting the cities’ downtowns using smart technologies and roadways.• e largest city on the U.S.-Canadian border, Detroit’s international crossings include the Detroit/Windsor Tunnel, the Ambassador Bridge and the under-construction Gordie Howe Bridge, which is expected to be completed by 2020.Detroit, MI ere is no U.S. city more favorably positioned for economic growth than Detroit ... Leveraging its historic brand, Detroit is recreating itself as a place to live, work and play.” KEVIN JOHNSON, on becoming President and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, June 20181st3rd42.3314° N83.0458° Welev. 656 ft.EDTUTC-5Company Investment (US$M) JobsFCA US LLC 1,486 700Ford Motor Co. 1,400 500General Motors Co. 1,000 2,600Ford Motor Co. 850 100General Motors Co. 384 —population 2018: 3,599,890projected population 2023: 3,520,8282nd2ndUSA118 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S• e Hamburg metro region, the center of North Germany, comprises the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and 17 districts.• Hamburg ranks as one of the most livable cities in the world, according to both e Economist and Mercer.• Hamburg serves as academic home to 96,300 college students at 19 area universities.• Hamburg ranks as one of the world’s leading clusters for the civil aviation industry, next to Seattle and Toulouse.• Between August 1960 and December 1962, the Beatles played over 250 nights in Hamburg, often for up to fi ve hours.Hamburg... Germany's second-largest city has also been crowned Europe’s greenest metropolis with about 1,400 parks and gardens, a massive harbor, two lakes smack dab in the city center and more canals than Venice.” ALEXANDR A BREEN, writing for The Globe and Mail5th53.5753° N10.0153° Eelev. 381 ft.CESUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsBeiersdorf AG 262 —Merck 54 40Nynas/ Linde 34 —Still Gesellschaft Mit Beschränkter Haftung 33 —Delaval GmbH 32 —population 2018: 1,792,904projected population 2023: 1,787,5205thGermany• Dublin ranked No. 1 among the world’s 300 largest metro areas in the 2018 Brookings Global Metro Monitor Economic Performance Index.• From March 2015 to March 2018, Dublin trailed only Dallas-Fort Worth and Singapore in its number of data center projects (16).• Trinity College Dublin graduates founded more venture-backed companies than graduates from any other European university over the last 13 years, according to PitchBook.• As of 2017, around 5.7 million sq. ft. (529,547 sq. m.) of new offi ce stock was slated to come to the Dublin market over the subsequent two years.DublinWe plan to bring 100,000 young people and their teachers to our campus over the next four years …” CATHRIONA HALLAHAN, Managing Director, Microsoft Ireland, at the February 2018 opening of the company’s new 2,000-job campus and associated DreamSpace education and innovation hub in Dublin3rd2nd4th1st1st53.3498° N6.2603° Welev. 279 ft.ISTUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsBristol Myers Squibb 900 350Facebook, Inc. 217 40Digital Realty Trust 192 —Electricity Supply Board 171 —Microsoft Corp. 147 —population 2018: 1,201,426projected population 2023: 1,270,172Ireland 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 119• HCM City attracted more FDI than any other Vietnam location during the fi rst fi ve months of 2018: $2.39 billion USD, accounting for 24.2 percent of total investment. New investment registration certifi cates were issued for 330 projects.• Helped by a $2-billion site in HCM City, output from Samsung operations across the country now represents 22.7 percent of Vietnam’s export turnover. Nearly 200 Vietnam fi rms are part of the Samsung supply chain.• Within 20 miles, Japanese developer Becamex Tokyu since 2012 has been building an entirely new city — Tokyu Binh Duong Garden City — that will cover 110 hectares (272 acres) and be the home to the Binh Duong provincial government.Ho Chi Minh CityVietnam has experienced a radical economic and social transformation over the past two decades alongside integration into the global economy.” EUROPEAN COMMISSION; agreement was reached in June 2018 on final text for the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement5th1st5th10.8231° N106.6297° Eelev. 63 ft.ICTUTC+7Company Investment (US$M) JobsSamsung Electronics 1,000 —Far Eastern New Century Corp. 760 —Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 600 —Jabil Circuit, Inc. 500 —Saigon Industry Corp. 306 —population 2018: 8,145,361projected population 2023: 9,320,8663rd4thVietnam• Johannesburg is the world's largest city not built on a coastline, lake or river. at’s why it’s called the world’s biggest “dry port.” More than half of the cargo that arrives through the ports of Durban and Cape Town arrives at the container terminal at City Deep.• OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, named after the famous former leader of the African National Congress, is the biggest and busiest airport on the continent of Africa. It is estimated that 28 million passengers pass through its terminals every year.• Johannesburg, California (population 172), was named by miners who had worked in the gold mines of Johannesburg, South Africa (population 1.5 million).JohannesburgSouth Africa remains the continent’s leading FDI destination, when measured by project numbers, increasing 6.9%.” EY’S MAY 2017 AFRICA ATTR ACTIVENESS REPORT4th1st26.2023° S28.0436° Eelev. 5,751 ft.SASUTC+2Company Investment (US$M) JobsThe South African Breweries Ltd. 112 —Gibela Rail Transport Consortium (Rf) (Pty) Ltd. 80 1,500Gayatri Gzi Beverage Cans 71 —Iveco/Larimar Group 70 1,000IBM 60 —population 2018: 5,485,986projected population 2023: 6,198,0164th4thSouth Africa120 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S• Kraków is home to more than 160 shared services and BPO companies; the sector employs more than 60,000.• e city is home to 23 higher education institutions and approximately 180,000 students.• Kraków is noted for its publishing tradition dating back to the 16th century. It is home to over 75 bookstores and nearly 100 publishing companies, the Polish Book Institute and Poland’s oldest university, the Jagiellonian, founded in 1364, according to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.Kraków e R&D centers and advanced technology companies in Kraków attract a lot of attention. e local environment and climate for start-ups certainly contribute to the fact that Kraków’s global economic brand is growing stronger every day.” ELŻBIETA KOTERBA, Deputy Mayor, City of Kraków, in an April 5, 2017, interview in Emerging Europe5th1st3rd50.0614° N19.9366° Eelev. 719 ft.CESUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsArcelormittal SA 133 —Mabuchi Motor Co., Ltd. 90 400Valeo Autosystemy Sp Z O O 79 150Nidec Corp. 45 30Somfy 39 200population 2018: 767,178projected population 2023: 769,417Poland• King Abdullah Economic City is the largest privately-funded new city in the world and covers an area of 181 sq. km. (70 sq. miles) — approximately the same size as Washington D.C.• KAEC’s port includes more than 30 deepwater berths with a capacity of 20 million TEU.• e Red Sea region is expected to double its population to 1.5 billion by 2050.• e city’s event hall, Bay X, is the largest venue and event facility in the Middle East.King Abdullah Economic City e major investment opportunities provided by the Industrial Valley, which is directly connected to King Abdullah Port, qualify it to become a major destination and an advanced supply point for logistics services and industries in the region.” AYMAN MANSI, Engineer & CEO of the Industrial Valley2nd22.4487° N39.1336° Eelev. 10 ft.ASTUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsGulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar) 53 —Pfizer Inc. 50 —Aurobindo Pharma Limited — 150Flow Progressive Logistics — —Petra Engineering Industries Co. Ltd. — —population 2018: 1,400,000projected population 2023: —2ndSaudi Arabia 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 121• InvestKL, the capital region’s leading investment promotion agency, has attracted 73 multinationals with approved and committed investments of RM11 billion (US$2.7 billion), and the creation of more than 10,971 regional high-skilled jobs since 2011.• In the Expat City Ranking 2017, Malaysia was ranked the 15th best country to stay and work, moving up 23 places from the 38th spot in 2016.• Global insurer AXA is establishing a new AXA Shared Services Centre in Puchong Financial Corporate Centre (PFCC) – the latest MSC Cybercentre and an iconic corporate landmark in Puchong. AXA is set to generate approximately 200 jobs across diff erent technologies and capabilities by the end of 2018.Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is strategically located in ASEAN, and the government’s national digital economy initiative gives us an added edge, on top of the city’s compelling propositions.” DATUK ZAINAL AMANSHAH, CEO, InvestKL3rd4th3.1412° N101.6865° Eelev. 217 ft.MSTUTC+8Company Investment (US$M) JobsAlibaba Group Services Limited 1,580 —UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd. 450 —DHL Supply Chain Ltd. 352 —H Holdings PLC 250 —Ramly Food Processing, Sdn. Bhd. 239 —population 2018: 7,563,912projected population 2023: 8,621,7245thMalaysia• An estimated 21 million people live and work in Lagos, making it Africa’s largest city; by some estimates, Lagos could double in size by 2050.• Lagos’ $136 billion economy accounts for more than one-third of Nigeria’s GDP and surpasses those of Kenya and the Ivory Coast.• e Port of Lagos is Nigeria’s leading port and one of the largest and busiest in Africa.• Lagos’ vibrant music scene has given birth to a variety of styles such as Sakara music, Nigerian hip hop, highlife, juju, fuji and Afrobeat.Lagos e cost of housing in Lagos is too high compared to that of houses in Ogun and Oyo state. But this is because everything exists in Lagos; the industries, jobs, means of production.” MOSES FIAR AMA, Real Estate Agent3rd3rd6.4541° N3.3947° Eelev. 135 ft.WATUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsDangote Oil Refining Co. Limited 12,000 2,000Ladol Integrated Logistics Free Zone Limited 256 5,000Unilever 150 —Globe Motors/Higer Bus Co. Of China 120 —Jiangsu Yulong Steel Pipe Co., Ltd. 120 1,000population 2018: 13,463,421projected population 2023: 15,945,912Nigeria122 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S• According to a survey of the labor market conducted in 2017, 25 percent of people from the SSC/BPO sector indicated Łódź as a potential place for relocation. In 2012, this indicator was 7 percent.• Łódź is a major educational and scientifi c center, with more than 20 higher education institutions, both public and private, and approximately 80,000 students.• According to the “Strategy for Integrated Development of Lodz 2020+,” key sectors for investment-related development of Łódź include logistics and transport, BPO, IT, home appliances and R&D.ŁódźPoland is one of the most important countries in the EMEA region in terms of quality and the pace of development of industrial structures.” ANDREA MARCIANDI, Director of Whirlpool EMEA Shared Services, October 5, 20172nd4th2nd2nd51.7594° N19.46°Eelev. 531 ft.CETUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsMiele Co. Limited 59 350Pini Polonia 55 800Whirlpool Corp. 49 130Sandoz Polska Sp Z O O 46 90Superdrob Zaklady Drobiarsko Miesne SA 45 650population 2018: 688,194projected population 2023: 660,577Poland• With a population of a half-million residents, Lipetsk is located 272 miles (438 km.) southeast of Moscow on the Voronezh River.• e principal industries of Lipetsk include metallurgy, machinery, metalworking, machine tools, engines, chemicals and clothing.• Lipetsk is home to Russia’s fi rst large-scale french fry plant, built by Russia’s Belaya Dacha Group and Lamb Weston/Meijer.• Lipetsk is one of the oldest mud bath and balneological resorts in Russia.LipetskJust outside the city, a stone column announces the date of its foundation: 1703, when Peter the Great ordered an iron foundry to be built near a deposit of ore.” SAMANTH SUBR AMANIAN, The Guardian, Nov. 2017, describing the rebranding of Lipetsk, where today the "modern descendant of that factory," Novolipetsk Steel, employs 29,000 people.4th52.6031° N39.5708°Eelev. 534 ft.MSKUTC+3Company Investment (US$M) JobsLifan Motors 300 —Belaya Dacha, OAO 111 —Schlumberger SA 59 —Isolate 51 —Andam Medtek, OOO 51 —population 2018: 510,813projected population 2023: 503,7921stRussia 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 123• Intel and Juniper Research found London to be the top “smart city” in Europe and No. 2 globally (behind Singapore) when evaluated across the key areas of mobility, health care, public safety and productivity.• London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s vision for London — now the No. 3 startup ecosystem globally — is for it to become the world’s leading “Smart City,” including the launch of Europe’s largest connected business campus for startups — Plexal — at Here East, the name given to the redevelopment district on the grounds of the 2012 Olympic Games.• London tech fi rms raised a record $6.6 billion in 2017, according to Startup Genome’s 2018 Global Startup Ecosystem Report.London2nd2nd5th e measures we are announcing today will allow innovative British start-ups to invest in their future — and in the UK — by hiring more skilled people, expanding their business and exporting their expertise across the world.” THERESA MAY, UK Prime Minister, June 2018, announcing the British Patient Capital program and a new Start-Up Visa program for entrepreneurs51.5085° N0.1257° Welev. 36 ft.UTCUTC+0Company Investment (US$M) JobsFord 602 250Wells Fargo & Co. 394 —Telehouse 212 —Equinix 79 —Coca-Cola European Partners PLC 50 —population 2018: 9,046,485projected population 2023: 9,648,1104th5thUK• Mexico City is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Its economy is expected to triple by 2020.• e national capital is home to three of the most prestigious universities in Mexico: e National Autonomous University, the State of Mexico Universities and a campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education.• Mexico City received $5.5 billion in FDI (primarily through the manufacturing industry) in 2016 — 20.7 percent of all FDI in the country.• ere are 271 institutions of higher education in the metro area.Mexico City ere are a lot of things that are happening here. ere are a lot of diff erent players — entrepreneurs, VCs, angel investors. ere is a ton of activity going on in Mexico City, and I believe that this year we are going to hear about companies doing great stuff .” RENÉ LOMELÍ, operations director at 500 Startups5th19.4285° N99.1277° Welev. 7,380 ft.CSTUTC-6Company Investment (US$M) JobsPetróleos Mexicanos 274 —Peñafiel Aguas Minerales, S.A. De C.V. 53 —Neolpharma, S.A. De C.V. 40 —Akzo Nobel N.V. 23 —Bulkmatic De México, S. De R.L. De C.V. 20 —population 2018: 21,580,827projected population 2023: 22,281,4421stMexico124 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S• A.T. Kearney’s 2018 Global Cities Index report ranked Moscow No. 14, with human capital its strongest suit. e index also found it No. 1 in the cultural experience metric of museums, university-sponsored incubators and ease of doing business.• Among recent German corporate investments in the Moscow metro area are a €20-million SAP innovation center and a BASF logistics center.• Analysis conducted by Site Selection with UAVGlobal.com in 2016 found Russia to be tied for fourth globally in the number of unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturers (24).Moscow2nd3rd3rd4thBy creating this place, we have come closer to the customers in all of Russia and the CIS countries. We used to take them to Berlin, Walldorf or Paris when we wanted to engage with them in an innovative space.” NATALIA PARMENOVA, Managing Director, SAP CIS, opening a new Experience Center and co-innovation hub55.7522° N37.6156° Eelev. 512 ft.MSKUTC+3Company Investment (US$M) JobsTh Food Chain Joint Stock Co. 500 —Kamaz, OAO 279 1,000Oriflame 239 —Sberbank Rossii OAO 188 —BMW Group AG / Avtotor 172 —population 2018: 12,409,738projected population 2023: 12,680,3894thRussia• Monterrey is the home of Mexico’s steel industry; it has often been referred to as the Pittsburgh of Mexico.• Monterrey’s more than 50 industrial parks house many of the more than 1,000 manufacturing companies in the region.• Monterrey is home to two of Mexico’s most prestigious universities, the National Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, and the Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Tec de Monterrey). Nuevo Leon state has 44 higher education institutions, off ering education to more than 111,000 undergraduate students and 10,000 grad students.MonterreyOur goal is to not only serve our current customers, but to expand into new markets that are growing in this region.” ARTURO MEZA, Operations Director at the recently expanded manufacturing facility in Monterrey operated by Wisconsin-based Bemis Manufacturing Co.4th2nd25.6751° N100.3185° Welev. 1,770 ft.CDTUTC-6Company Investment (US$M) JobsFrisa Industrias, S.A. De C.V. 200 250Marcatel Com, S.A. De C.V. 200 —Ragasa Industrias, S.A. De C.V. 160 —Tenedora Nemak, S.A. De C.V. 150 —Cydsa Corporativo, S.A. De C.V. 127 —population 2018: 4,712,297projected population 2023: 5,116,6473rd1stMexico 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 125• India’s largest city is is also the richest city in India (and the 12th wealthiest city in the world), with the largest number of billionaires. e world’s most expensive house, called Antilia, is located in Mumbai and is valued at $1 billion.• Mumbai’s urban economy generates some 6 percent of the country’s GDP and about 40 percent of its foreign trade.• More than 1,000 fi lms per year are produced in Mumbai, home of “Bollywood.”Mumbai3rd5thMumbai may not be my city. But it is my kind of city.” VIKAS SWARUP, Indian novelist 19.0728° N72.8826° Eelev. 46 ft.ISTUTC+5:30Company Investment (US$M) JobsThrust Aircraft Private Limited 5,261 —Reliance Defence 757 —Welspun Corp. Limited 293 5,000Deepak Fertilisers And Petrochemicals Corp. Limited 82 —SRF Limited 51 —population 2018: 19,979,955projected population 2023: 21,296,517India• At No. 8, Munich was one of four German cities (along with No. 6 Berlin, No. 7 Frankfurt and No. 12 Cologne-Dusseldorf) to place in the top 20 metros by number of FDI projects in the 2018 Global Location Trends report from IBM-PLI.• With fi scal 2017 revenue of €83 billion and 377,000 employees worldwide, Siemens is based in Munich, where it opened a new headquarters complex in June 2016.• IBM Watson Group opened a $200-million Internet of ings headquarters in Munich in February 2017, where more than 1,000 IBM engineers and designers will work with IBM clients and partners in what IBM Watson general manager Harriet Green called a “collaboratory."MunichBavaria is one of the leading insurance locations worldwide ... more than 100,000 jobs, 60,000 of them alone in Munich. A lively and innovative start-up scene has also developed ...” ILSE AIGNER, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, May 2017, on the awarding of Insurtech as a theme for the Munich Digital Hub2nd5th5th4th2nd48.1374° N11.5755° Eelev. 1,710 ft.CESUTC+1Company Investment (US$M) JobsInternational Business Machines Corp. 216 700Phicomm Europe GmbH 136 1,100Knorr-Bremse AG 100 —Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH 29 100Enel Green Power SPA 25 —population 2018: 1,503,708projected population 2023: 1,576,416Germany126 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S• Way before Amazon picked Long Island City in Queens for its 25,000-job portion of HQ2, Citi’s “Hot Spots 2025” report benchmarking future city competitiveness rated New York No. 1 overall.• Projects continue to roll out at the $25-billion, 18-million-sq.-ft. Hudson Yards mixed-use development on the West side of midtown Manhattan. Its fi rst offi ce building to open, 10 Hudson Yards, is LEED Platinum-certifi ed and fully occupied, hosting 6,000 employees of such fi rms as L’Oreal, Alphabet Labs and SAP.• Freight NYC, a $100-million plan to overhaul the city’s aging freight distribution systems, was launched in July 2018 with the goal of creating 5,000 new jobs, and new multimodal and logistics facilities in Brooklyn, the Bronx and at JFK Airport.New York City, NYMany of the roles in our new offi ce will be fi lled by innovators from the area’s deep talent pool, which will be an invaluable resource as we consider additional investments in the city.” MARK T. BERTOLINI, Aetna Chairman and CEO, June 2017, announcing the company’s new 250-job corporate HQ in Manhattan2nd2nd3rd1st40.7170° N74.0037° Welev. 33 ft.EDTUTC-5Company Investment (US$M) JobsSensaras, LLC 450 31Spotify USA Inc. 218 1,050BNYM 198 —NBTY, Inc. 142 157Brooklyn Brewery Corp. 137 115population 2018: 18,819,361projected population 2023: 18,937,2693rdUSA• While FDI infl ows dropped by 22 percent across Africa in 2017, they rose by 71 percent in Kenya. Nairobi is No. 8 among African cities in FDI from 2003 through 2016, totaling nearly $6 billion at a growth rate over that time of 25 percent.• Kenya Railways in summer 2018 announced plans to partner with the private sector to build more cargo storage facilities along the Mombasa-Nairobi rail line to ease pressure on a new inland container terminal opened in Embakasi in December 2017.• After Johannesburg and Cape Town, Nairobi is the No. 3 destination city for Chinese greenfi eld FDI from 2003 through 2016, according to the State of African Cities 2018 report from UN Habitat and Erasmus University Rotterdam released in June 2018.Nairobi is is an important fi rst step towards unlocking Africa and expanding our performance coatings presence in the east of the continent.” BARON SCHREUDER, AkzoNobel Performance Coatings Director for sub-Saharan Africa, at the opening of a new coatings production facility in Nairobi2nd3rd1.2833° S36.8167° Eelev. 5,450 ft.EATUTC+3Company Investment (US$M) JobsBico-Liebherr 218 —Avic International 200 —Maisha Mabati Limited 70 —Wrigley 64 —Bidco Oil Refinery 46 340population 2018: 4,385,853projected population 2023: 5,325,1602nd3rdKenya 2018 W O R L D ’ S M O S T C O M P E T I T I V E C I T I E S 127Next >