Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have been continuously staying among the global top 10 of JLL’s Short-Term Momentum Index, coming in at third and sixth places this time.

Ho Chi Minh City (3rd) and Hanoi (6th) are attracting sizeable volumes of foreign direct investment (FDI) as they integrate into regional and global supply chains for high-technology manufacturing.

This helps to spur rapid economic and income growth, leading to one of the world’s highest rates of increase in retail sales and air passenger numbers.

According to Stephen Wyatt, regional director of JLL Vietnam, it is not surprising to see Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi ranked in the Top 10.

“The pace of development within both cities is evident and the government is making significant investment in infrastructure, which will help continue this momentum into the future,” said Wyatt.

He added that there is an energy and buzz within the cities, with high levels of confidence and positive market sentiment.

“In the past few years there has been significant interest from foreign investors looking to participate in this highly attractive market and we expect this to continue in the foreseeable future,” he said.

India maintains its pre-eminence in the Short-Term Momentum rankings with four of the top five markets, as its cities register among the highest rates of demographic and economic growth globally, while also benefitting from government efforts to boost business attractiveness and invest in infrastructure.

Chinese cities show no signs of diminishing momentum, accounting for 11 places of the Global Top 30.

Asian ‘Megahubs’ which act as regional gateways and have the scale to compete for talent, visitors, and innovation—including Manila (18th), Jakarta (23rd), Kuala Lumpur (24th), and Bangkok (28th)—are continuing to drive forward on the back of significant economic momentum.

Offering substantial growth potential, these cities are key expansion markets for many corporations and are drawing particular interest from Chinese companies as they internationalise. They also have some of the highest levels of real estate completions across the globe as they build out the infrastructure to service this demand.

JLL’s City Momentum Index (CMI), now in its fifth year, tracks a broad range of factors to identify cities which possess the attributes for success over the short and long term.

The CMI Short-Term Momentum ranking identifies the urban economies and real estate markets which are currently undergoing the most rapid growth. They highlight the continued rise of Asia-Pacific cities as destinations for global capital, commerce, and innovation, with markets from the region accounting for 25 of the Global Top 30.

The 131 cities covered by the City Momentum Index have been shortlisted on the basis of a combination of a weighted index of population, GDP, corporate presence, air connectivity, real estate investment activity, and commercial real estate stock.

VIR