Singapore remains at number one

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Tuesday, 17 March 2009 11:03

Singapore has retained its status as the best location for expatriates in Asia, while Hong Kong has fallen behind Tokyo because of bad air pollution, an annual survey released in March shows.
Singapore was ranked the best location for the 10th consecutive year, followed by Japanese cities Kobe, Yokohama and Tokyo, according to the survey by London-based ECA. The investigation ranked cities by climate, air quality, health services, housing and personal safety, among other categories.

“Good infrastructure and healthcare facilities, low crime and health risks, and decent air quality contribute to Singapore providing the best quality of living for Asian assignees,” said Lee Quane, Asian director of ECA International, which advises on expatriate packages and allowances.

Bad air quality and inferior health facilities pushed Hong Kong into fifth place, from its position of fourth last year.

But cities in mainland China held on to last year's higher rankings and have become more liveable in the past year as a result of infrastructure development, ECA said. Shanghai stayed in 12th place, ahead of Seoul, while Nanjing was in 13th position.

The survey aims to help companies establish expat allowances. Companies may be seeking to slash expat packages during the global economic downturn but ECA claim only a handful of cities in Asia offer expatriate staff a good standard of living.

Most of the 49 Asian locations ranked remain challenging for one reason or another, and therefore warrant high location allowances, it said.

China remains classified as a hardship posting, with pollution remaining a major problem. However, infrastructure development, low crime rates and political stability put China well ahead of India in the rankings.