Hong Kong does not only act as a financial hub, if that's what you meant. Its airport, port, transport infrastructure, low level of violent crimes, low corruption, good legislative and executive systems, sound banking system, decent/good/excellent (depending on individual perspectives) education systems all help Hong Kong's case. In countries like Germany, one may say the country is not very international because it is largely focused on Europe. In countries like Australia, shops apparently close at 5 PM! Germany may be at the heart of Europe, but beyond that, foreigners may find it difficult to find/do much in Germany. For an economy of that size, there are hardly any large international banks or international airports in Germany.
Well, my post wasn't meant to devalue HK's achievements by any means. I just meant to say that countries should take these kind of rankings with a grain of salt...a poor third world country trying to imitate HK's "openness" will immediately get all of its natural resource stripped and all of its domestic companies taken over and would be left with nothing simply because they starts with a disadvantage. Mainland China won't move up that list for a LONG time, at least not until she gets a whole bunch of established multinational company that can compete on a even level with the world. It's the same thing with India, she pretty much has to be protectionist because all of the sectors she's trying to establish can't compete with foreign multinationals with like 100 years head start.