Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Ranks 23rd in Global Financial Centres Index and 16th in FinTech Index, Achieving Highest-Ever Rankings

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it ranked 23rd among 120 global financial cities in the Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), a leading indicator measuring the financial competitiveness of major cities worldwide.

This evaluation is based on the “Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI 39)” report released by the British consulting group Z/Yen, which was published at 6:00 p.m. (Korea Standard Time) on the previous day (March 26), corresponding to 9:00 a.m. local time on March 26.

This achievement marks the city’s highest ranking since 2014, attained despite challenging domestic and global financial conditions. Compared to March 2023 (37th place), Busan has risen by 14 positions and has maintained a steady upward trend, remaining within the top 20 for five consecutive evaluations since March 2024 (first half).

Within Asia, Busan ranked 10th, following Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Dubai, and Tokyo.

Busan Metropolitan City assessed that this rise reflects the visible outcomes of its sustained efforts to build a robust financial ecosystem. Key contributing factors include the completion of Phase 3 of the Busan International Finance Center (BIFC); continued expansion of policy funds for corporate growth and industrial innovation, such as the Busan Future Growth Venture Fund, Busan Innovation Scale-up Venture Fund, and Busan Future Industry Transition Fund; and the concentration of major institutions in Busan, including the global shipping broker Clarkson and the marine finance-specialized asset management firm Waterline, which have strengthened core infrastructure and financial market foundations.

In addition, Busan achieved significant progress in the fintech sector. It ranked 16th among 116 global financial cities in the FinTech Index, rising 6 places from the previous evaluation and further enhancing its competitiveness as a digital financial city. This advancement is attributed to securing new growth drivers in digital finance, including attracting the nation’s first dedicated trading platform for fractional investment distribution (KDX Consortium), based on Korea’s only blockchain regulation-free zone.

In particular, Phase 3 of the Busan International Finance Center (BIFC) is being developed as a specialized “Digital Finance Valley,” integrating fintech, blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based companies with investment and guarantee functions, raising expectations for Busan’s leap forward as a digital financial hub.

Mayor Park Heong-joon stated, “Achieving the highest-ever ranking in the Global Financial Centres Index demonstrates that the outcomes of Busan’s financial hub policies are now becoming fully visible,” adding, “We will continue to implement differentiated strategies based on marine and digital finance to advance into the global top 20 and Asia’s top 5 financial cities by 2030.”