Seoul is Asia's costliest city for expatriates, while the weaker yen has made Japanese cities more affordable, a survey released yesterday said.
The latest twice-yearly survey by human resources firm ECA International showed the South Korean capital jump one notch higher to rank seventh globally in a list of the most expensive places for expatriates over the last 12 months.
Tokyo retained its place as the second most expensive Asian city but globally, the Japanese capital dropped out of the top 10 list for the first time because of the weaker yen.
"Depreciation of the yen against most other currencies, coupled with low inflation, has significantly reduced living costs for foreigners in Tokyo, Yokohama and Kobe in recent years," ECA International said.
Yokohama placed third, followed by Kobe, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore, with the Chinese city of Guangzhou taking the 10th spot, the survey said.
There were 15 Chinese cities featured in the list of 39 Asian cities surveyed.
Higher food prices, along with the strengthening Chinese currency, have seen expatriates' living costs in Chinese cities go up, narrowing the gap with other more developed East Asian cities such as Hong Kong and Taipei.
"In China, soaring food, oil and grain product prices along with the strengthening yuan against the US dollar have meant that locations throughout China have pushed up through the ranking during this period," ECA International said.
Jakarta was the 11th most expensive place, Bangkok was in 18th place and Manila was in 19th place. Hanoi, in 32nd place, was judged as more expensive than Kuala Lumpur which was in 33rd place, just a notch above the Laotian capital Vientianne.
Islamabad was the least expensive among the Asian cities surveyed at number 39.
Globally, Angola's capital city Luanda was the most expensive for expatriates.
It was followed by Oslo, Moscow, Norway's seaport town of Stavanger, Copenhagen, Kinshasa, Seoul, Gabon's capital of Libreville and Geneva. Central London was in 10th spot.
"Some people may be surprised to see African locations in the top ten," said Lee Quane, ECA's Hong Kong-based general manager.
He said ECA's survey included items bought by expatriates that were not readily available locally which meant they were more expensive.
"In addition, the commodity boom in recent years has led to considerable currency appreciations in commodity-exporting markets, such as Angola, making it an increasingly expensive location for expatriates," Quane said.
ECA's twice-yearly survey compares a basket of 128 consumer items purchased by expatriates in over 300 locations globally.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
SEMICONDUCTORS: Samsung and Texas Instruments would receive US$4.75 billion and US$1.6 billion respectively to build one chip factory in Utah and two in Texas Samsung Electronics Co and Texas Instruments Inc completed final agreements to get billions of US dollars of government support for new semiconductor plants in the US, cementing a major piece of US President Joe Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act initiative. Under binding agreements unveiled Friday, Samsung would get as much as US$4.75 billion in funding, while Texas Instruments stands to receive US$1.6 billion — money that would help them build facilities in Texas and Utah. The final deals mean the chipmakers can begin collecting the funding when their projects hit certain benchmarks. Though the terms of Texas Instruments’ final agreement is
Call it an antidote to fast fashion: Japanese jeans hand-dyed with natural indigo and weaved on a clackety vintage loom, then sold at a premium to global denim connoisseurs. Unlike their mass-produced cousins, the tough garments crafted at the small Momotaro Jeans factory in southwest Japan are designed to be worn for decades, and come with a lifetime repair warranty. On site, Yoshiharu Okamoto gently dips cotton strings into a tub of deep blue liquid, which stains his hands and nails as he repeats the process. The cotton is imported from Zimbabwe, but the natural indigo they use is harvested in Japan —
RSS