The Financial Times has ranked Taipei third out of 163 countries in its 2015-2016 list of Asia-Pacific future cities. That’s a jump from sixth place in the last ranking.
Singapore came in first for a third straight time, while Tokyo jumped to second place, up from ninth place.
The biennial list compiled by fDi Intelligence scores cities in six areas including economic potential, GDP, foreign investment and connectivity.
The Taiwanese capital performed best of all the midsize Asia-Pacific cities this year. When compared to similar sized cities, it came in first in two of the categories: economic potential and business friendliness.
Taipei was also recognized for attracting creative talent. The city registered 24,280 patents between 2010 and 2014. That’s the third most of all the cities on the list.
The list also recognized Taipei for its high level of education and low cost of labor, which is attractive to investors.