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High living standards make Singapore the most favourable place in the
world for Asians to live according to the latest Location Ranking Survey
on expatriate living conditions by ECA International, the world¡¯s
largest membership organization for international human resources
professionals, serving a global network of over 4000 HR professionals in
1500 companies in 35 countries. |
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Singapore claims the top spot because it offers residents a good quality
of living, scoring favourably in most categories. |
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High quality infrastructure and health facilities, combined with low
health risks, air pollution and crime rates make it a very desirable
location in which to live. |
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And the cosmopolitan make-up of Singapore adds to its appeal. |
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Kobe is the only other Asian city ranked in the top 10, ranked fifth
behind Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Making up the top 10 are
Auckland, Copenhagen, Vancouver, Wellington and Basel. |
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Yokohama and Tokyo are the other Asian locations to feature in the top
20, ranked 11th and 14th respectively. They are followed by Hong Kong
(32), Taipei (60), Macau (64), Bangkok (69) and Kuala Lumpur (72).
Shanghai, 89th in the global ranking, is considered the best Chinese
city for Asians to live, beating Beijing because of its more favourable
climate and lower levels of air pollution. |
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Baghdad came out as the worst location to live, followed by Kabul and
Karachi. Their position at the bottom of the rankings is largely due to
the high risk to personal safety and lack of adequate infrastructure and
facilities. |
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Culture, language and proximity to an expatriate¡¯s home country also
affect the overall scores which are used by ECA member companies to
establish allowances which compensate expatriate staff for the
difficulties of living in their assignment location. |
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¡°Although Singapore is top for Asians, it comes in at only 58 for
Western Europeans. Although still a great place to come to, distance
from home, differences in culture, language and climate all make it
harder to live here than Basel, for example, which comes top for
Europeans," explained Lee Quane, General Manager of ECA International in
Hong Kong. |
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Movers and shakers |
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Quality of living is on the up in most Chinese cities, with Xi¡¯an
showing the greatest annual improvement although it remains the
worst-ranked of all the Chinese cities covered by ECA¡¯s survey. |
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Infrastructure, health facilities, goods and services, recreational
facilities and housing are the areas that are seeing the biggest
improvements across the country. However, locations in China still have
a long way to go before they offer residents the same living standards
afforded to residents in Singapore and Japan, with high levels of air
pollution a particular complaint amongst expatriates. |
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Scores for Phnom Penh and Vientiane have also improved this year, as
they have done for the past couple of years. Both have seen a growth in
the expatriate community in recent years as they have become more open
to foreign investment. |
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Hong Kong dropped down the rankings this year falling from 20th to
32nd. Its fall is due to an increase in the levels of air pollution,
with the number of hazy days rising every year as polluted air from
an increasingly industrialised Guangdong province affects the city.
An increase in the levels of air pollution caused by forest fires on
Sumatra contributed to Kuala Lumpur slipping 11 places this year.
Flash-flooding and landslides also affected its overall hardship
score. |
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¡°It isn¡¯t all good news for Asia,¡± said Quane. ¡°Although Singapore
is ranked the best city in the world and many Asian cities
recorded improvements in their score, only five Asian locations
make the top 50. This shows that living conditions in most Asian
cities is lower than those in their European and North American
counterparts. What¡¯s more, the drop experienced by Hong Kong and
Kuala Lumpur shows that the rapid pace of development in Asia,
which is attractive to so many people, is also having a
detrimental impact of living conditions through by-products such
as pollution.¡± |
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ECA¡¯s biggest ever location ranking survey scores 257 locations
worldwide according to categories that include climate,
prevalence/impact of natural disasters, health facilities and
risks, transportation, the quality and availability of goods and
services, accommodation standards, education, recreation, crime
and socio-political climate. |
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Culture, language and proximity to an expatriate¡¯s home country
also affect the overall score. The scores are then used by ECA
member companies to establish allowances which compensate
expatriate staff for the difficulties of living in their
assignment location. |
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About ECA International |
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ECA International is the world¡¯s largest membership organisation
for international human resources professionals, serving a global
network of over 4000 HR professionals in 35 countries. |
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The leading provider of online data, software solutions and advice
for more than 1500 international companies, ECA¡¯s innovative
approach has been providing cost-effective solutions to
international HR management since 1971. For more information,
please visit
http://www.eca-international.com. |
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About ECA¡¯s Location Ranking Survey |
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The Location Ranking Survey is carried out on an annual basis. The
rankings above and below are made by comparing the factors listed
above for 257 locations worldwide on an Asian base. |
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¡¡
The best locations in the world for Asians to live |
¡¡
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2005 Rank |
Location
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1 |
Singapore -
Singapore |
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2 |
Australia -
Sydney |
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3 |
Australia -
Melbourne |
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4 |
Australia -
Canberra |
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5 |
Japan - Kobe |
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6 |
New Zealand -
Auckland |
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7 |
Denmark -
Copenhagen |
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8 |
Canada -
Vancouver |
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9 |
New Zealand -
Wellington |
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10 |
Switzerland -
Basel |
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¡¡
The most difficult locations in the world for Asians to live |
¡¡
|
2005 Rank |
Location
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257 |
Iraq - Baghdad |
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256 |
Afghanistan -
Kabul |
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255 |
Pakistan -
Karachi |
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254 |
Algeria -
Algiers |
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253 |
Haiti -
Port-au-Prince |
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252 |
Angola - Luanda |
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251 |
Palestine
Territories - Ramallah |
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250 |
Mauritania -
Nouakchott |
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249 |
Uzbekistan -
Tashkent |
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248 |
Sudan - Khartoum |
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¡¡
The best locations in Asia for Asians to live |
|
2005 Rank |
Location
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1 |
Singapore -
Singapore |
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2 |
Japan - Kobe |
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3 |
Japan - Yokohama
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4 |
Japan - Tokyo
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5 |
Hong Kong - Hong
Kong |
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6 |
Taiwan - Taipei |
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7 |
Macau - Macau |
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8 |
Thailand -
Bangkok |
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9 |
Malaysia - Kuala
Lumpur |
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10 |
Thailand -
Chiang Mai |
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Source:
www.eca-international.com Press Release 3 Apr 2006 |
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FrontPage Edition: Sun 9 Apr 2006
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