Locations

Kuwait

Kuwait has a GDP (PPP) of US$167.9 billion and a per capita income of US$81,800, making it the 5th richest country in the world, per capita. Estimated exports stand at US$94.47 billion and imports are around US$22.41 billion. Petroleum, petrochemical products, fertilizers and financial services are major export commodities. Kuwait imports a wide range of products ranging from food products and textiles to machinery. Kuwait’s most important trading partners are Japan, United States, India, South Korea, Singapore, China, the European Union, and Saudi Arabia. Japan is the largest customer of Kuwaiti oil followed by India, Singapore and South Korea. Kuwait city is ranked as one among the 25 largest GDP cities in the world along with New York, Tokyo, Moscow, Chennai and other financial hubs including Singapore and Dubai. According to the Index of Economic Freedom, Kuwait has the second-most free economy in the Middle East. Kuwait’s foreign exchange reserves stand at US$213 billion. The Kuwait Stock Exchange, which has about 200 firms listed, is the second-largest stock exchange in the Arab world with a total market capitalization of US$235 billion. The Kuwaiti government posted a budget surplus of US$43 billion. Non-petroleum industries include shipping, construction, cement, water desalination, construction materials and financial services. Kuwait has a well developed banking system.

Lagos, Nigeria

Lagos is Nigeria’s economic focal point, generating a significant portion of the country’s GDP. Most commercial and financial business is carried out in the central business district situated on the island. This is also where most of the country’s commercial banks and financial institutions and major corporations are headquartered. Lagos has one of the highest standards of living as compared to other cities in Nigeria as well as in Africa. The Port of Lagos is Nigeria’s leading port and one of the largest and busiest in Africa. It is administered by the Nigerian Ports Authority and it is split into three main sections: Lagos port, in the main channel next to Lagos Island, Apapa Port and Tin Can Port, both located in Badagry Creek, which flows into Lagos Harbour from the west. The port has seen growing amounts of crude oil exported, with export figures rising. Oil and petroleum products provide 14% of GDP and 90% of foreign exchange earnings in Nigeria as a whole.

Las Vegas, NV

The primary drivers of the Las Vegas economy are tourism, gaming, and conventions, which in turn feed the retail and restaurant industries. The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos and the hotels. Most of the hotel casinos are in the city’s downtown area, which has been the focal point of the city’s gaming industry since its early days. An effort has been made by city officials to diversify the economy by attracting light manufacturing, banking, and other commercial interests. The lack of state individual and corporate income tax and very simple incorporation requirements have fostered the success of this effort.

London, United Kingdom

London generates approximately 20 per cent of the UK’s GDP (or $446 billion); while the economy of the London metropolitan area – the largest in Europe – generates approximately 30 per cent of the UK’s GDP (or an estimated $669 billion). London is one of the pre-eminent financial centres of the world and vies with New York City as the most important location for international finance. London’s largest industry is finance, and its financial exports make it a large contributor to the UK’s balance of payments. Around 325,000 people are employed in financial services in London. London has over 480 overseas banks, more than any other city in the world. Over 85% (3.2 million) of the employed population of greater London works in the services industries. The City of London is home to the Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, and Lloyd’s of London insurance market. Over half of the UK’s top 100 listed companies (the FTSE 100) and over 100 of Europe’s 500 largest companies have their headquarters in central London. Over 70 per cent of the FTSE 100 are within London’s metropolitan area, and 75 per cent of Fortune 500 companies have offices in London.

Los Angeles, CA

The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, video games, recorded music), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Los Angeles is also the largest manufacturing center in the western United States. The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the fifth-busiest port in the world and the most significant port in the Western Hemisphere and is vital to trade within the Pacific Rim. Other significant industries include media production, finance, telecommunications, law, healthcare, and transportation. The city is home to six Fortune 500 companies. They are energy company Occidental Petroleum, healthcare provider Health Net, metals distributor Reliance Steel & Aluminium, engineering firm AECOM, real estate group CBRE Group and builder Tutor Perini.

Louisville KY

Louisville is a competitive, authentic, global city, home to UPS WorldPort and a center for advanced manufacturing and logistics, as well as among only a dozen U.S. cities that have all five major performing arts groups. As the hometown of Muhammad Ali, Louisville punches above its weight and its 750,000 population. Midwest or South? Both! With its Midwestern sensibilities and southern hospitality, Louisville is the regional economic hub and cultural and artistic heart of 24 surrounding counties in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the U.S. population, it’s also a strategic location for thousands of companies, including large corporations and growing startups. The city is home to the Kentucky Derby and the world’s great bourbons, from Maker’s Mark to Jim Beam to Woodford Reserve, all distilled in the Louisville area. Louisville’s reputation as a hub of innovation for food and bourbon (in addition to other spirits) has earned it accolades from far and wide, including Zagat, which named Louisville as a top foodie destination in the world. Logistics, advanced manufacturing, health care, and more!…Louisville’s business strategies focus on areas of strength where large numbers of companies already are successful in Louisville. Ford and GE are experiencing major growth in advanced manufacturing, and the wealth of logistics operations make it easy for them and similar companies to continue to excel.

Luxembourg

Luxembourg’s stable and high-income market economy features moderate growth, low inflation, and a high level of innovation. Luxembourg is the second richest country in the world, with a per capita GDP on a purchasing-power parity (PPP) basis of $80,119. Luxembourg is ranked 13th in the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, 24th in the United Nations Human Development Index, and 4th in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s quality of life index. The industrial sector, which was dominated by steel, has since diversified to include chemicals, rubber, and other products. Growth in the financial sector has more than compensated for the decline in steel production. Services, especially banking and finance, account for the majority of economic output. Luxembourg is the world’s second largest investment fund centre (after the United States), the most important private banking centre in the Euro zone and Europe’s leading centre for reinsurance companies. Moreover, the Luxembourg government has aimed to attract internet start-ups, with Skype and Amazon being two of the many internet companies that have shifted their regional headquarters to Luxembourg.

Lyon, France

The GDP of Lyon is 62 billion euro, and the city is the second richest city after Paris. Lyon and its region Rhône-Alpes represent one of the most important economies in Europe and can be compared to Philadelphia, Mumbai or Athens concerning its international position. Lyon is the 14th favorite city in the European Union concerning the creation of companies and investments. High-tech industries like biotechnology, software development, game design, and internet services are also growing. Other important sectors include medical research and technology, non-profit institutions, and universities. The city is the headquarters of many companies like Euronews; Lyon Airports; BioMérieux; Sanofi Pasteur; LCL S.A.; Cegid Group; Boiron; Infogrames; Groupe SEB; Renault Trucks; Irisbus; LVL Medical, GL Events; Compagnie Nationale du Rhône; and intergovernmental agencies IARC. The worldwide headquarters of Interpol is located there. The district of Confluence, in the south of the historic centre, is a new pole of economical and cultural development.

Madrid, Spain

Madrid is a major centre for international business and commerce. It is one of Europe’s largest financial centres and the largest in Spain. Madrid has become the 23rd richest city in the world and third richest in Europe in terms of absolute GDP; behind the considerably larger cities of Paris and London and ahead of Moscow and Barcelona. Additionally in terms of GDP per capita, the Madrid region is the richest in Spain and one of the richest in Europe. Madrid is a global financial leader, rising to the top five Centres of Commerce in Europe. Madrid continues its upward trajectory as a key European city, rising to number 11 globally and to the number 5 spot in Europe. Madrid’s stable GDP, exchange rate and strong bond market, coupled with a high standard of living, place this city in the company of Europe’s most prominent cities: London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.

Manchester, United Kingdom

Built on cotton and silk weaving, with transport links developed on the water ways and later rail, Manchester was the work place of innovators such as Arkwright, who patenting the spinning and carding machine, and was actively involved in improving the textile industry. However the early 1900’s brought a decline in the traditional industry of cotton, as well as engineering, with competition from Leeds and the Midlands. In the early 1900’s Rolls Royce started production of their cars in the City. More recent history is notable for the growth of “Chinatown” since the 1970’s; sadly an IRA bomb in 1996 caused damage to life and property in 1996, but this gave rise the Trafford Shopping Centre a large indoor shopping centre, the second largest in the UK, attracting more than 35 million visitors a year. Today Manchester is placed situated in the second most populated urban area in the UK; it has benefited considerably from recent improvements and developments is Salford Quays, which has become a major centre for the BBC, and the Trafford Shopping Centre which brings many visitors from around the area to the city. Manchester continues to have an important role in the arts, with a top orchestra, the Lowry art exhibition, ballet and opera. Traffic connections to Manchester are excellent, both nationally and internationally. As a key centre of the South/North rail link to Scotland it is in reach of all the UK by rail. Manchester Airport is the second largest after London; it has links both within and outside the UK; it has recently been named best UK airport. Work is currently underway on new traffic routes across Manchester, currently difficult to travel. As the best airport for the area covered by the M62 Corridor, it is the first choice for flights outside Europe. Manchester’s mixed ethnic population and excellent transport links, place it as a good location for companies moving out of London. With an already excellent industrial infrastructure it should continue to be an important centre not just in the UK, but also in Europe.

Manila, Philippines

IT transformation has been the theme of outsourcing market since the start of 2016. More end users have been engaged in outsourcing projects in 2016 because of the need to consolidate resources and scale down IT infrastructure cost. Hosted services have been driving the growth of overall outsourcing market. SMEs are more conventional on their ICT priorities, focusing on the improvement of their basic infrastructure, while large enterprises are taking into account the enhancement of new technology requirement, hence more project-based (e.g. Systems Integration (SI) and IT consulting) and managed services (e.g. data center outsourcing) opportunities. Project-oriented services, as a proportion of total services spend in the country, increased. This can be attributed to the demand for consulting and systems integration services for data center deployments, the movement to cloud, and need for Big Data and analytics-centric projects. Enterprises are increasingly opting for outsourcing to reduce costs, have faster service delivery, better manage their finances, and integrate business processes easily. Furthermore, growth was enhanced by the expansion of global BFSI and manufacturing companies. As a result, there was an increased demand for colocation services, server hosting, and cloud-based services. SIs in the Philippines are very traditional, which are still hardware-centric. Most SIs are still transitioning to becoming solutions providers, and some have just started infusing 3rd Platform technologies in their products. In addition, they plan to expand outside of Metro Manila and other regions like ASEAN and North America. Key promotion and pricing strategies are tied with the principals for most of them. Some end users are in wait-and-see mode in terms of technology adoption, but they prefer vendors that they trust and work with. One of the strategies is to work with local system integrators that have over the years established strong connections with end users in the financial services, telecommunications, and manufacturing industries. Leading IT vendors like IBM, HP, Oracle have established a strong presence in this country with local partners like Questronix, Fountainhead Technologies, Jupiter Systems, AMTI are some of the best names in the local IT industry. There is a huge market for risk management consultancy services in association with IT projects, either directly working with customers or via system integrators.

Meadan, Indonesia

Surabaya as the second biggest city in Indonesia for business service and manufacturing will always attract investors, start-up or establish company to show their presence and operate in Surabaya. Surabaya is also the hub to connect to eastern and outer island part of Indonesia. The diversity of people compares to Jakarta and therefore makes Surabaya a very important city whether you deal in manufacturing, FMCG business, heavy equipment, construction and any other service including hospitality and tourism. If you have establish your business in Jakarta and want to expand it to bigger coverage then Surabaya is the perfect choice for it.

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in finance, manufacturing, research, IT, education, logistics, transportation and tourism. Melbourne is headquarters for many of Australia’s largest corporations, including five of the ten largest in the country (based on revenue), and four of the largest six in the country (based on market capitalisation) (ANZ, BHP Billiton (the world’s largest mining company), the National Australia Bank and Telstra); as well as such representative bodies and think-tanks as the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The city is home to Australia’s largest Melbourne 1and busiest seaport which handles more than $75 billion in trade every year and 39% of the nation’s container trade. Melbourne Airport provides an entry point for national and international visitors, and is Australia’s second busiest airport. Melbourne is also an important financial centre. Two of the big four banks, NAB and ANZ, are headquartered in Melbourne. The city has carved out a niche as Australia’s leading centre for superannuation (pension) funds, with 40% of the total, and 65% of industry super-funds including the $40 billion-dollar Federal Government Future Fund. The city was rated 41st within the top 50 financial cities as surveyed by the MasterCard Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index, second only to Sydney (12th) in Australia. Melbourne is Australia’s second-largest industrial centre. It is the Australian base for a number of significant manufacturers including Boeing, truck-makers Kenworth and Iveco, Cadbury as well as Bombardier Transportation and Jayco, among many others. It is also home to a very wide variety of other manufacturers, ranging from petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals to fashion garments, paper manufacturing and food processing. The city also boasts a research and development hub for Ford Australia, as well as a global design studio and technical centre for General Motors and Toyota respectively.

Memphis, TN

Memphis is the home of three Fortune 500 companies: FedEx, AutoZone, and International Paper. Other major corporations based in Memphis include Allenberg Cotton, American Residential Services, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, Cargill Cotton, City Gear, First Horizon National Corporation, Evergreen Packaging, Fred’s, GTx, Guardsmark, Lenny’s Sub Shop, Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, ServiceMaster, Thomas & Betts, True Temper Sports, Varsity Brands, and Verso Paper. Corporations with major operations based in Memphis include Carrier, Merck & Co., Medtronic, Sharp Manufacturing, Smith & Nephew, and Technicolor Home Entertainment Services. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis also has a branch in Memphis. The entertainment and film industries have discovered Memphis in recent years. Several major motion pictures, most of which were recruited and assisted by the Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission, have been filmed in Memphis.

Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico City is one of the most important economic hubs in Latin America. The city proper (Federal District) produces 21.8% of the country’s gross domestic product. According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mexico City had a GDP of $390 billion, ranking as the eighth richest city in the world after the greater areas of Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London and Osaka/Kobe, and the richest in the whole of Latin America, as measured by the GDP of the entire Metropolitan area. making Mexico City alone the 30th largest economy in the world. Mexico City is the greatest contributor to the country’s industrial GDP (15.8%) and also the greatest contributor to the country’s GDP in the service sector (25.3%). Due to the limited non-urbanized space at the south – most of which is protected through environmental laws – the contribution of the Federal District in agriculture is the smallest of all federal entities in the country. Mexico City has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and its GDP is set to double. Mexico City has an HDI index of 0.915 identical to that of the Republic of Korea. The level of household expenditure in Mexico City is close to that of an average household in Germany or Japan. The top twelve percent of GDP per capita holders in the city had a mean disposable income of US $98,517. The high spending power of Mexico City inhabitants makes the city attractive for companies offering prestige and luxury goods

Miami, FL

Miami is a major center of commerce, finance, and boasts a strong international business community. According to the ranking of world cities undertaken by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC) and based on the level of presence of global corporate service organizations, Miami is considered a “Alpha minus world city”. Miami has is ranked 20th worldwide in GMP, and 11th in the United States. Several large companies are headquartered in or around Miami, including but not limited to: Akerman Senterfitt, Alienware, Arquitectonica, Arrow Air, Bacardi, Benihana, Brightstar Corporation, Burger King, Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Corporation, Carnival Cruise Lines, CompUSA, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, Espírito Santo Financial Group, Fizber.com, Greenberg Traurig, Holland & Knight, Inktel Direct, Interval International, Lennar, Navarro Discount Pharmacies, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises, Perry Ellis International, RCTV International, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Ryder Systems, Seabourn Cruise Line, Sedano’s, Telefónica USA, TeleFutura, Telemundo, Univision, U.S. Century Bank,Vector Group and World Fuel Services. Because of its proximity to Latin America, Miami serves as the headquarters of Latin American operations for more than 1400 multinational corporations, including AIG, American Airlines, Cisco, Disney, Exxon, FedEx, Kraft Foods, LEO Pharma Americas, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, SBC Communications, Sony, Symantec, Visa International, and Wal-Mart.

Milan, Italy

While Rome is Italy’s political capital, Milan is the country’s economic and financial heart. With GDP estimated at €132.5 billion, the province of Milan generates approximately 9% of the national GDP; while the economy of the Lombardy region generates approximately 20% of the Italy’s GDP. The province of Milan is home to about 45% of businesses in the Lombardy region and more than 8 percent of all businesses in Italy, including three Fortune 500 companies. Milan is home to a large number of media and advertising agencies, national newspapers and telecommunication companies, including both the public service broadcaster RAI and private television companies like Mediaset, Telecom Italia Media and Sky Italia. In addition, it has also seen a rapid increase in internet companies with both domestic and international companies such as Altavista, Google, Lycos, Virgilio and Yahoo! establishing their Italian operations in the city. Milan is a major world fashion centre, where the sector can count on 12,000 companies, 800 show rooms, and 6,000 sales outlets (with brands such as Armani, Versace and Valentino), while four weeks a year are dedicated to top shows and other fashion events. The city is also an important manufacturing centre, especially for the automotive industry, with companies such as Alfa Romeo and Pirelli having a significant presence in the city. Other important products made in Milan include chemicals, machinery, pharmaceuticals and plastics.

Minneapolis, MN

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is the second largest economic center in the Midwest, behind Chicago. The economy of Minneapolis today is based in commerce, finance, rail and trucking services, health care, and industry. Smaller components are in publishing, milling, food processing, graphic arts, insurance, education, and high technology. Industry produces metal and automotive products, chemical and agricultural products, electronics, computers, precision medical instruments and devices, plastics, and machinery. The city at one time produced farm implements. Five Fortune 500 corporations make their headquarters within the city limits of Minneapolis: Target, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy, Ameriprise Financial and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The city’s largest employers are Target, University of Minnesota, Allina Health, Fairview Health Services, Wells Fargo, Hennepin County, Ameriprise, Hennepin County Medical Center, U.S. Bancorp, City of Minneapolis, Xcel Energy, Capella Education Company, RBC Wealth Management, Macy’s, TCF Financial, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Thrivent, and the Star Tribune. Foreign companies with U.S. offices in Minneapolis include Accenture, Canadian Pacific, Coloplast, RBC and ING Group

Monte Carlo, Monaco

Monaco boasts the world’s highest GNI per capita at $183,150. It also has the lowest unemployment rate at 0%, with over 48,000 workers who commute from France and Italy each day. According to the CIA World Factbook, Monaco has the world’s lowest poverty rate and the highest number of millionaires and billionaires per capita in the world. Monaco has the world’s most expensive real estate market, at $58,300 per square metre. One of Monaco’s main sources of income is tourism. Each year many foreigners are attracted to its casino and pleasant climate. It has also become a major banking center, holding over €100 billion worth of funds. The principality has successfully sought to diversify its economic base into services and small, high-value-added, non-polluting industries, such as cosmetics and biothermics. Monaco is not a member of the European Union. However, it is very closely linked via a customs union with France and, as such, its currency is the same as that of France, the euro. Monaco levies no income tax on individuals. The absence of a personal income tax in the principality has attracted to it a considerable number of wealthy residents from European countries who derive the majority of their income from activity outside Monaco; celebrities such as Formula One drivers attract most of the attention, but the vast majority of them are less well-known business people.

Monterrey, Mexico

Monterrey is a major industrial center in northern Mexico, producing a GDP of 78.5 billion US dollars. The city’s GDP per capita is 607,042 Mexican pesos or $46,634 US dollars. The city is rated by Fortune magazine as the best city in Latin America for business and is currently ranked third best by the América Economía magazine. The city has prominent positions in sectors such as steel, cement, glass, auto parts, and brewing. The city’s economic wealth has been attributed in part to its proximity with the United States-Mexican border and economic links to the United States. Industrialization was accelerated in the mid-19th century by the Compañia Fundidora de Fierro y Acero Monterrey, a steel-processing company. Today, Monterrey is home to transnational conglomerates such as Cemex (the world’s third largest cement company), FEMSA (Coca-Cola Latin America, largest independent Coca-Cola bottler in the world), Alfa (petrochemicals, food, telecommunications and auto parts), Axtel (telecommunications), Vitro (glass), Selther (leading mattress and rest systems firm in Latin America), Gruma (food), and Banorte (financial services). The FEMSA corporation owned a large brewery, the Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery (Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma) that produces the brands Sol, Tecate, Indio, Dos Equis and Carta Blanca among others, in the beginning of the year Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma Brewery was sold to Dutch-based company Heineken. By the end of the same year, there were more than 13,000 manufacturing companies, 55,000 retail stores, and more than 52,000 service firms in Monterrey.

Montreal

Montreal has the second-largest economy among Canadian cities based on GDP and the largest in Quebec. The city is today an important centre of commerce, finance, industry, technology, culture, world affairs and is the headquarters of the Montreal Exchange. Montreal industries include aerospace, electronic goods, pharmaceuticals, printed goods, software engineering, telecommunications, textile and apparel manufacturing, tobacco, petrochemicals, and transportation. The service sector is also h2 and includes civil, mechanical and process engineering, finance, higher education, and research and development. Montreal ranks as the 4th largest centre in North America in terms of aerospace jobs. The Port of Montreal is the largest inland port in the world handling 26 million tones of cargo annually. As one of the most important ports in Canada, it remains a trans-shipment point for grain, sugar, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. For this reason, Montreal is the railway hub of Canada and has always been an extremely important rail city; it is home to the headquarters of the Canadian National Railway, and was home to the headquarters of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Moscow, Russia

Moscow has one of the largest municipal economies in Europe and it accounts for approximately 22% of Russian GDP. Moscow is the undisputed financial center of Russia and home to the country’s largest banks and many of its largest companies, such as natural gas giant Gazprom. Moscow accounts for 17% of retail sales in Russia and for 13% of all construction activity in the country. Overall, economic stability has improved in recent years; nonetheless, crime and corruption continue still hinder business development. The Cherkizovskiy marketplace was the largest marketplace in Europe, with a daily turnover of about thirty million dollars and about ten thousand venders from different countries (including China, Turkey, Azerbaijan and India). Primary industries in Moscow include the chemical, metallurgy, food, textile, furniture, energy production, software development and machinery industries. Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company, has head offices also in Moscow, as well as many other oil, gas and electricity companies. Additionally, some industry is now being transferred out of the city to improve the ecological state of the city. Nevertheless, Moscow remains one of Russia’s major industrial centers.

Mumbai, India

Mumbai is India’s largest city (by population) and is the financial and commercial capital of the country as it generates 6.16% of the total GDP. It serves as an economic hub of India, contributing 10% of factory employment, 25% of industrial output, 33% of income tax collections, 60% of customs duty collections, 20% of central excise tax collections, 40% of India’s foreign trade and 4000 crore (US$640 million) in corporate taxes. Along with the rest of India, Mumbai has witnessed an economic boom since liberalisation. Mumbai’s GDP is 919600 crore (US$150 billion), and its per-capita (PPP) income is 486,000 (US$7,800), which is almost three times the national average. Its nominal per capita income is 125,000 (US$2,000), (US$2,094). Many of India’s numerous conglomerates (including Larsen and Toubro, State Bank of India (SBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Tata Group, Godrej and Reliance), and five of the Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Mumbai. This is facilitated by the presence of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), and financial sector regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Munich, Germany

Munich has the strongest economy of any German city and the lowest unemployment rate of any German city. The city is also the economic centre of southern Germany. Munich is considered a global city and holds the headquarters of Siemens AG (electronics), BMW (car), MAN AG (truck manufacturer, engineering), Linde (gases), Allianz (insurance), Munich Re (re-insurance), and Rohde & Schwarz (electronics). The breakdown by cities proper (not metropolitan areas) of Global 500 cities listed Munich in 8th position. Munich is a centre for biotechnology, software and other service industries. Munich is also the home of the headquarters of many other large companies such as the aircraft engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines, the injection molding machine manufacturer Krauss-Maffei, the camera and lighting manufacturer Arri, the semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies (headquartered in the suburban town of Neubiberg), lighting giant Osram, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as McDonald’s and Microsoft. Munich has significance as a financial centre (second only to Frankfurt), being home of HypoVereinsbank and the Bayerische Landesbank. It outranks Frankfurt though as home of insurance companies.

Muscat, Oman

Muscat is the commercial and financial capital city of the country with wonderful infrastructure, blooming tourism industry, high dependence on oil revenues and trading business. Muscat is preceded for next level of growth in the tourism industry, creating an enabling environments for SME business, port developments and building a country’s logistics map, oil and gas continue to be part in maintaining the momentum at the same time building infrastructures for non-oil business, meeting the growing demands of energy remains the key agenda of sustainable growth for the country. Oman’s Central Bank is one of the well-established and very stringent Central Bank guiding policies and best practices within the banking fraternity in the country.