The Hindu : Front Page : Singapore is best for Asian expatriates

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Wednesday, Mar 05, 2008
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Singapore is best for Asian expatriates

Chennai is the highest ranked Indian city in Asia, says major annual survey

SINGAPORE: Singapore has topped a list of cities around the world offering Asian expatriates the best quality of life, followed by Sydney, a survey from a human resources consultancy said on Tuesday. Chennai was the highest ranked Indian city within Asia, in the 26th spot. Mumbai stood 30th and New Delhi 37th.

The annual location ranking exercise by ECA International, with its headquarters in London, compares living standards in 254 international locations. It found that Singapore is an ideal place for Asians to live in because of the quality of its infrastructure and health facilities.

The city-state’s low health risks, air pollution, crime rates and cosmopolitan population added to its appeal, ECA’s general manager in Hong Kong, said.

He noted, however, that while Singapore scored consistently well in most of the 15 categories used to asses each location, it saw a deterioration in some factors.

“Air pollution in 2007 was slightly higher than 2006, primarily due to the haze in 2007,” he said. Haze from forest fires in Indonesia has become a major problem Singapore, where air quality levels have worsened every year during the dry season.

Sydney came in second, followed by Melbourne, Australia, and Kobe, Japan, which tied for third place in the ranking that combines data collected by ECA International with results of a survey of expatriates.

While Sydney and Singapore scored similarly well in criteria such as pollution levels, the quality of goods and services available, transport and infrastructure, the Australian city’s geographical distance from Asia made it a less favourable location than Singapore, the official said.

“For Sydney, Japanese or Chinese assignees will have to travel relatively long distances, and so it’s much more difficult to maintain contact with family,” he said. Cultural differences were also a factor.

The fifth-best city for Asian expatriates was Copenhagen, the survey found, followed by Canberra (6th), Vancouver (7th), Wellington (8th), Yokohama (9th) and Dublin (10th). — Agencies

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