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News
07
From Germany with love
Key expat
currencies
Germany is the number one place
for foreigners to fall in love, continue
according to a global study con-
ducted by HSBC Bank
slide
International. The Netherlands
finished a close second.
Key currencies for expats
A quarter of expats in Germany
living in the Gulf are
have married locals, making
continuing to slump against
Germany “the best location to find
the dollar as the global
love”, according to the “Expat
© Sebastian Czapnik
financial crisis batters world
Experience” report, published in
economies.
December 2008. most likely to learn the local in which to make friends with the
The British pound plunged
The survey questioned 2,155 language local population, with only half of
to its lowest level since June
expats of different nationalities in Among the most difficult coun- expats living there (54% - the low-
2002, while the Russian
48 countries worldwide to rank tries in which to integrate were est score in the survey) advising
rouble slumped to its lowest
their host country in four cate- Australia, the United Arab that they found it easy to make
since February 2006.
gories measuring integration - Emirates and China. Australia local friends. Singapore also
Both the Indian rupee and
making local friends, joining com- ranked poorly on the number of ranked lower, with 68% of respon-
Philippine peso have clawed
munity groups, learning the lan- expats who joined community dents indicating that they found it
back some earlier losses, but
guage and buying property. groups; expats in the UAE found it possible to make local friends.
are both still trading at near
“The results really surprised difficult to make friends; and Almost half (45%) ofall
record lows against the US
me,” said Paul Say, head of mar- China scored relatively low for the respondents said that they had
currency.
keting and communications at number of expats who bought joined a local community group as
The pound remains weak
HSBC. “I didn't expect that property. expatriates. Expats living in
despite the Bank of England
Germany would be the country of Martin Spurling, Chief Germany were most likely to join
cut in its key interest rate to
love - that's what made it so Executive Officer for HSBC Bank a community group (65% of
the lowest level ever.
delightful doing the survey.” International and Head of HSBC respondents), followed by around
The pound has now fallen
Some 32% of people had also Global Offshore, said: “We com- half of expats living in Hong Kong
30 percent compared to
had children since moving to missioned this independent survey (53%), Singapore (50%), Canada
November last year when
Germany, placing the country in to take a look into the lives and (50%) and the US (50%).
sterling hit a 26-year high
second place behind Belgium, experiences of our customers who Australia, despite scoring highly
against the dollar.
where more than a third of expats live across the globe and the tran- for making friends with local peo-
The rouble is down 22
had had a child. sitional challenges they encounter ple, came last in the category, with
percent from its nine-year
“One of the strengths of the from country to country. just 38% of expats saying that they
high in July. The rupee also
German nation is that they're “This final report in our Expat had joined one of these groups.
fared badly in the wake of the
multilingual,” observed Say. “That Explorer series focuses on some- Expats living in Europe were
four-day terrorist siege of the
helps people to converse more, thing that is incredibly important most likely to learn the local lan-
country’s financial hub
which is definitely an enabler of to all expats – their ability to fit in guage. Germany came top in this
Mumbai, and is down 26
love.” to their new home. This is often category with three-quarters of
percent from its ten-year
As many large multinational the aspect that is most daunting, expats learning the German lan-
high against the dollar in
companies are based in Europe's with many concerned about guage, followed by expats in Spain
November last year.
largest economy, expats often whether or not they will be able to (70%) and Belgium (70%) who
The Spanish peso also fell,
have longer careers and therefore make friends or feel like they were also likely to adopt the lan-
and the Philippine currency is
more long-term expectations in belong in their adopted country. guage of their country of resi-
down 22 percent from its
Germany. Through this survey we have been dence. Conversely, only one-fifth
eight-year high in February.
Expatriats also considered provided with a fascinating insight of expats in Singapore and Hong
Germany the best country for into our customers’ lives which Kong (20%) learned the language
expat integration overall, the will help us also to best adapt to of their new homeland.
results showed, followed closely by their offshore finance needs.” France came out as a property
Canada and Spain. In terms of making friends with hotspot, ranking highest in
Other significant findings the local population, Canada is the the category of expats buying
circle6
include: most welcoming country to property, with almost two-thirds
Expats from Hong Kong are expats, with almost all (95%) of (64%) of respondents stating that
most likely to make friends with respondents claiming that they they had purchased a property
circle6
other expats found it easy to make friends with in the country. Expats in Asia
France is the most popular the locals. This was followed by are the least likely to buy a home
circle6
country for buying property Germany (92%) and Australia with India (6%), China (12%)
Canada is the most welcoming (91%). and Singapore (24%) ranking
circle6
country The United Arab Emirates was lowest for purchasing a
Expats living in Europe are revealed to be the hardest country property.
www.investmentinternational.com January 2009 Investment International
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