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Top 12 locations for Asian expatriates: (last year's rankings in brackets)

1. Singapore (1)
2. Kobe, Japan (2)
3. Yokohama, Japan (3)
4. Tokyo (5)
5. Hong Kong (4)
6. Taipei (6)
7. Macau (7)
8. Kuala Lumpur (9)
9. Bangkok8)
10. Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia (9)
11. Shanghai(11)
12. Seoul(12)






       
'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, the firm's regional director.
FOR the 10th year running, Singapore has come in tops as the city with the best quality of life for Asian expatriates, an annual survey released on Wednesday shows.

Its good infrastructure, healthcare facilities, decent air quality, and low crime rates kept it at the top position in the annual ranking by human resources consultancy ECA International.

Top 12 locations for Asian expatriates: (last year's rankings in brackets)
1. Singapore (1)

2. Kobe, Japan (2)
... more

Singapore beat 253 other cities, including Australia's Sydney and Melbourne and Japan's Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kobe. Hong Kong was ranked 11th due to its air quality.

Bringing up the tail were Baghdad in Iraq, Kabul in Afghanistan, Karachi in Pakistan and Port-au-Prince in Haiti. These were the least desirable locations for expatriates due to a lack of suitable facilities and high personal security risks, said ECA.

Singapore was also named the top Asian location for European expatriates, followed by Kobe, Yokohama, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Bad air quality and inferior health facilities pushed Hong Kong into fifth place in Asia, from fourth last year, among the 49 Asian cities ranked.

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.

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

New Delhi stayed in 37th place, partly because the air quality there is particularly bad. That puts it behind Hanoi (17), Colombo (32) and even Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia (34).

In contrast, Bangkok's ranking fell to 9th from 8th place after political unrest late last year caused street protests and the closure of Bangkok's international airport for several days.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_348715.html