Cities of Global Commerce

MasterCard has just published its second annual ranking of the top-75 cities of global commerce. Sofia (Bulgaria) - my home town - is not among them.

London beats out New York for the top spot, followed by Tokyo, Singapore and Chicago. Bangkok, at #42, is the top-tanked city from an emerging economy. Bogota (Colombia), Ryadh (Saudi Arabia), and Cairo (Egypt) entered the list for a first time. That Beirut makes it, at #74, may raise some eyebrows. The United States has the most entrants, 12, followed by China, with 5.

The ranking scores seven areas: legal and political framework, economic stability, ease of doing business, financial flows, business center, knowledge creation, and livability. These carry different weights, with financial flows judged most important (22% weight), followed by ease of doing business (20%); while livability and economic stability have a weight of 10% each. Excitingly, the Doing Business indicators are heavily relied upon. They constitute 60% of the legal and political framework index; and 70% of the ease of doing business index. In other words, a fifth of the overall rank is based on the Doing Business project.

This may explain why Sofia hasn't made it yet.