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Sunday 20 December 2009

CRM sustainability in a post-recession economy

CRM sustainability in a post-recession economy

By Denis Pombriant, Founder and managing principal, Beagle Research Group, LLC

17 Dec 2009 | SearchCRM.com


Sustainability is the next big issue for CRM. Coming out of a self-induced recession caused by overleveraging and other forms of overconsumption, we can expect people and companies to be more cautious about their spending. We really have no choice -- liquidity, or credit availability, is low, and those who have cash are inclined to hoard it.

But even assuming easy credit, there are other drivers, such as the escalating cost of energy, which will serve to keep the economic brakes on. In this revised landscape, economic drivers will cause business to rethink some processes, with the result that demand for new software should be just around the corner.

None of this is bad news, and it smacks of economic opportunity. The trick, as always, is to discover the drivers and the processes early enough to position ourselves and our companies to take advantage.

The economic drivers that I see include tight and expensive energy supplies, a cautious economy, satiated customers and a demographic shift. Other than that, it’s smooth sailing. Let's explore these individually.

Energy

As the economy was tanking last year, gas peaked above $4 per gallon and jet fuel was even more expensive. In a very short period, the cost of transportation doubled for many people, and that’s more than most can handle. From November 2007 to November 2008, Americans drove 122 billion fewer miles than during the prior period, according to the U.S. Transportation Department. That may have been good for the environment, but our economy thrives on business travel, and a big chunk of that decline was travel for business.

I haven’t seen comparable numbers for airlines, but we know they are in a seemingly perpetual cycle of losing money. High fuel costs didn’t help them. The opportunity I see here is the need to travel less while increasing our economic output. That will give an advantage to any software company that can help us maintain face-to-face contact with customers without travel.

Obvious candidates include the Web meeting vendors, but also consider companies that sponsor Web conferences for hundreds or thousands of people. While we’re at it, this could be a boon for desktop video development and production software. You don’t need lights, cameras and all that to produce influential short videos. I am already seeing some leading companies produce video -- Oracle, SAP and Sage come to mind. Look for more of this.

Economy

Before you throw your hands up and say the problem is too big for us to solve and we need a government solution, take a deep breath. The software trend over the last 10 years has been to reduce costs and pay as you go, and it’s been successful. Pay as you go has legs in this economy. Remember that K-mart, and later Wal-Mart, reintroduced layaway in time for last year’s holiday shopping. At the time, I said that software companies ought to be developing applications that enable other companies to do the same thing. A newish business model that enables more vendor financing would do a lot to sidestep the wreckage in the financial sector and help get the economy moving at a more robust pace. The opportunity here is obviously the software that makes small, short-term financing possible.

Customers

Thomas Friedman’s book “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” goes into great and disturbing detail about our overconsumption in the last couple of decades. At this point, many people are tapped out and have garages full of things they thought they needed. Many companies find themselves overleveraged too. Each of these ideas is reason enough to buy less, so vendors will need better tactics and strategies for uncovering real customer need. All this suggests a fundamental rethink of sales force automation (SFA). If you are an SFA vendor and can think outside the box -- with an eye to social media -- there’s opportunity awaiting you.

Demographics

An article in the Harvard Business Review by professor John Quelch last year uncovered an interesting truth about customer loyalty. People of a certain age -- think of them as post-tuition-paying baby-boomers -- are less interested in new things than in new experiences. We’re not talking about the garden-variety experience of someone having a pleasant time using your gizmo; this is about eating out at that Afghani place I like in Cambridge rather than remodeling the kitchen. It’s also about selling the McMansion and moving closer to the city so that it becomes realistic to take the commuter rail to a play in the evening. Quelch calls these people middle-aged simplifiers.

If you’re in CRM, this spells opportunity to rethink some business processes and use social networking to carefully listen to customers as they describe the next important things in their lives. Your customers will need to support new business processes to address the demographic shift.

So there it is. Out of adversity comes opportunity, and this piece only scratches the surface. There’s more out there if you look and apply ingenuity and innovation. Good luck with that.


The five dimensions of a social media persona

By Allen Bonde

14 Dec 2009 | SearchCRM.com

As a sequel to my last column, now that we have presented some definitions and direction for how social media fits with CRM, let’s tackle one of the most common questions I get these days: How should we be using Facebook/Twitter/Communities/etc.?

To set the stage, keep in mind that I think of social models as an evolution rather than a revolution. So from a multi-channel CRM or marketing perspective, it’s really useful to think of social media sites and options as “channels,” in the same way those in the service and support space think of email or chat as a channel.

Second, if you buy this channel analogy, it’s important to recognize that the roles a company and its employees (and customers and other affiliates) play on various social channels can be quite different, just as the tone we use, and format, and even expectations are different when using the phone vs. self-service or email vs. SMS. As an aside, this is why my firm has been adamant about suggesting to our clients that while, yes, they should create one overall corporate social business strategy, they should also assign separate owners for each of their target social channels.

Whether you are in support or marketing, your programs need to target the audience and leverage the unique characteristics of each channel. No, this is not rocket science, but with all the excitement around social media these days, it seems that common sense sometimes takes a back seat! What is (kind of) rocket science is characterizing the top channels, future channels and their interactions, and looking at all the dimensions that are in play. Fortunately, taking a “persona” view is a way to simplify all of this; and in the process, it provides a helpful view of how the top channels compare so we can “tune in” to the right approach.

Social channel personas

In marketing, a user persona is a representation of the goals and behavior of a real group of users, and it may include behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes and environment, and perhaps a few fictional personal details to make the persona a realistic character. For our purposes, I’ve taken a looser definition, although it’s fun to think of character traits that fit each channel.

For our social channel persona model, I’ve focused on five dimensions: Age, Relationships (the nature of connections), Activity, Tone and Persistence (of content). These are a mix of demographic and “usage” traits, but most importantly they cover two key characteristics of any successful community site, campaign or support effort: good content and good connections. With this framework, it’s interesting to look at some of the top social channels and see how they differ.

Facebook is perhaps the “hottest” channel today, and if you look at its profile using this model, it’s clear that marketers and members see a unique role -- which is good in terms of longevity and defining business value. Specifically using the dimensions of our framework, for Facebook, Age = young/adult, with 60% of members now over 35, and more females than males. Relationships = (highly) friends, Activity = fun, and Tone = casual. Finally, Persistence = days, with many members making daily updates, but not necessarily at the frequency of Twitter.

Compare this with LinkedIn -- where Age = mature, Relationships = friends/colleagues, Activity = work, Tone = business, and Persistence = months -- and we can see how these channels are distinct, require very different messaging and in fact can easily co-exist. We can do similar mappings for blogs, Twitter, private forums, video sharing, etc., not only to see how one channel may complement another but in some cases (think Facebook vs. MySpace) how one may be so similar that users can and do move from one community to the other!

Turn the channel

We can also use our persona model in planning social marketing campaigns or even online customer service strategies. One basic way is looking at demographics. Everyone with teens knows that they are all over Facebook. But so are a growing number of people over 35 and Moms, who are a fast growing user segment. Meanwhile, blogs (as a group) and LinkedIn remain older and more male-dominated, and Twitter is the youngest major social channel.

As a former CMO, aligning tone is also critical to me. And each social channel certainly has its own “style guide” that must be considered. Looking at the personas again, corporate messages play well “as-is” on LinkedIn, and that channel is emerging as a key information (e.g., white paper, presentations) portal via groups; but a much more casual, and even promotional tone may be needed for Facebook and Twitter.

Finally, the question of how often to post and monitor social channels, whether for marketing or customer service (think new product news, upgrades, patches, etc.), continues to be half art and half science. The “Persistence” dimension aims to provide some direction and can be used to help set and follow a publication schedule. For example, blogging once a week is a good goal for most corporate bloggers, but Facebook and Twitter content has a much shorter shelf life, requiring more frequent updates.

Of course, since I started to define our persona model, we have seen more focus on real-time search in the marketplace and Google’s announcement that they will feature live updates from Twitter, Facebook, et al. While this is still playing out, these developments certainly may change the game when it comes to the persistence -- and distribution -- of social content!

For this and other reasons, social media and how it relates to CRM is and will remain a moving target. That’s why a practical approach, a flexible plan and lots of market tests and user involvement are essential to make social media work for your customers and your business. The essential ingredients for creating such a social business strategy will be the topic of my next column. Stay tuned and Happy Holidays!

About Allen Bonde

Allen Bonde was recently CMO of eVergance and is a well-known analyst, entrepreneur and management consultant. He has 20 years of experience at McKinsey, Extraprise, the Yankee Group, and GTE (now Verizon); he has written for CIO.com and SearchCRM.com and has appeared on CNBC and Fox News. Bonde is the founder and currently managing director of Evoke CRM Partners (www.EvokeCRM.com), a consultancy focused on multi-channel customer strategies and the convergence of social media, self-service and CRM.


The five dimensions of a social media persona

By Allen Bonde

14 Dec 2009 | SearchCRM.com

As a sequel to my last column, now that we have presented some definitions and direction for how social media fits with CRM, let’s tackle one of the most common questions I get these days: How should we be using Facebook/Twitter/Communities/etc.?

To set the stage, keep in mind that I think of social models as an evolution rather than a revolution. So from a multi-channel CRM or marketing perspective, it’s really useful to think of social media sites and options as “channels,” in the same way those in the service and support space think of email or chat as a channel.

Second, if you buy this channel analogy, it’s important to recognize that the roles a company and its employees (and customers and other affiliates) play on various social channels can be quite different, just as the tone we use, and format, and even expectations are different when using the phone vs. self-service or email vs. SMS. As an aside, this is why my firm has been adamant about suggesting to our clients that while, yes, they should create one overall corporate social business strategy, they should also assign separate owners for each of their target social channels.

Whether you are in support or marketing, your programs need to target the audience and leverage the unique characteristics of each channel. No, this is not rocket science, but with all the excitement around social media these days, it seems that common sense sometimes takes a back seat! What is (kind of) rocket science is characterizing the top channels, future channels and their interactions, and looking at all the dimensions that are in play. Fortunately, taking a “persona” view is a way to simplify all of this; and in the process, it provides a helpful view of how the top channels compare so we can “tune in” to the right approach.

Social channel personas

In marketing, a user persona is a representation of the goals and behavior of a real group of users, and it may include behavior patterns, goals, skills, attitudes and environment, and perhaps a few fictional personal details to make the persona a realistic character. For our purposes, I’ve taken a looser definition, although it’s fun to think of character traits that fit each channel.

For our social channel persona model, I’ve focused on five dimensions: Age, Relationships (the nature of connections), Activity, Tone and Persistence (of content). These are a mix of demographic and “usage” traits, but most importantly they cover two key characteristics of any successful community site, campaign or support effort: good content and good connections. With this framework, it’s interesting to look at some of the top social channels and see how they differ.

Facebook is perhaps the “hottest” channel today, and if you look at its profile using this model, it’s clear that marketers and members see a unique role -- which is good in terms of longevity and defining business value. Specifically using the dimensions of our framework, for Facebook, Age = young/adult, with 60% of members now over 35, and more females than males. Relationships = (highly) friends, Activity = fun, and Tone = casual. Finally, Persistence = days, with many members making daily updates, but not necessarily at the frequency of Twitter.

Compare this with LinkedIn -- where Age = mature, Relationships = friends/colleagues, Activity = work, Tone = business, and Persistence = months -- and we can see how these channels are distinct, require very different messaging and in fact can easily co-exist. We can do similar mappings for blogs, Twitter, private forums, video sharing, etc., not only to see how one channel may complement another but in some cases (think Facebook vs. MySpace) how one may be so similar that users can and do move from one community to the other!

Turn the channel

We can also use our persona model in planning social marketing campaigns or even online customer service strategies. One basic way is looking at demographics. Everyone with teens knows that they are all over Facebook. But so are a growing number of people over 35 and Moms, who are a fast growing user segment. Meanwhile, blogs (as a group) and LinkedIn remain older and more male-dominated, and Twitter is the youngest major social channel.

As a former CMO, aligning tone is also critical to me. And each social channel certainly has its own “style guide” that must be considered. Looking at the personas again, corporate messages play well “as-is” on LinkedIn, and that channel is emerging as a key information (e.g., white paper, presentations) portal via groups; but a much more casual, and even promotional tone may be needed for Facebook and Twitter.

Finally, the question of how often to post and monitor social channels, whether for marketing or customer service (think new product news, upgrades, patches, etc.), continues to be half art and half science. The “Persistence” dimension aims to provide some direction and can be used to help set and follow a publication schedule. For example, blogging once a week is a good goal for most corporate bloggers, but Facebook and Twitter content has a much shorter shelf life, requiring more frequent updates.

Of course, since I started to define our persona model, we have seen more focus on real-time search in the marketplace and Google’s announcement that they will feature live updates from Twitter, Facebook, et al. While this is still playing out, these developments certainly may change the game when it comes to the persistence -- and distribution -- of social content!

For this and other reasons, social media and how it relates to CRM is and will remain a moving target. That’s why a practical approach, a flexible plan and lots of market tests and user involvement are essential to make social media work for your customers and your business. The essential ingredients for creating such a social business strategy will be the topic of my next column. Stay tuned and Happy Holidays!

About Allen Bonde

Allen Bonde was recently CMO of eVergance and is a well-known analyst, entrepreneur and management consultant. He has 20 years of experience at McKinsey, Extraprise, the Yankee Group, and GTE (now Verizon); he has written for CIO.com and SearchCRM.com and has appeared on CNBC and Fox News. Bonde is the founder and currently managing director of Evoke CRM Partners (www.EvokeCRM.com), a consultancy focused on multi-channel customer strategies and the convergence of social media, self-service and CRM.


Customer feedback management tools advance, but still no social media



By Christina Torode, Senior News Writer
01 Dec 2009 | SearchCIO.com

Social media may be changing the way consumers and business customers provide feedback to stores, hotels and the public at large, but companies have yet to catch up to these new channels with their customer feedback management efforts. Some companies are still trying to figure out how and even if they should acknowledge those tweets, blogs and other public comment forums, even as they duly follow call center logs or get customers to provide feedback in more conventional ways.

"We pay attention to certain blogs that we feel are legitimate to our industry, but some of these other medias come and go so we are not skimming them or constantly following them yet," said Finn Schulz, senior vice president of IT at The Rezidor Hotel Group, which is the international arm of the Carlson Hotels group and operates 320 hotels in 50 countries.

Part of the problem is there is no systematic way to gather and act on customer feedback on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. There are social media analysis tools that will monitor such sites for a mention of your company name and send you an alert, but most users and vendors have not integrated this feedback channel with the overall customer feedback management strategy or systems that aggregate data from surveys or call centers.

The mainstay customer feedback survey vendors (Vovici Corp., Confirmit Inc., MarkeTools Inc., Medallia Inc., Mindshare and Allegiance Inc.) and text-mining applications like Attensity are a few years out when it comes to developing modules that gather information from social media networks. At the same time, social networking analysis tools don't yet integrate with the big survey tool vendors, said Jim Davies, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner. But the two worlds are coming together, he said.

In the meantime, companies can use customer feedback management systems that are already in place to gather social media comments.

Call centers, for example, already have the training and policies to deal with customer feedback.

"Responding to comments on social media networks doesn't scale. What I'm seeing is companies taking those comments and directing them into the call centers to people who have experience, knowledge and a process for dealing with them," said Bruce Temkin, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass who recently blogged about his customer experience with an airline.

Speech recognition technology used in conjunction with some call center systems can also parse out customer feedback. For example, if an agent takes a call about a change-of-address request and the caller also comments on service, such as expressing dissatisfaction with charges, the speech recognition technology captures this information.

"So it's not just about improving the [call center] agent's performance, but with speech analysis technology you can gather and analyze customer feedback on competitor pricing or dissatisfaction with a service," Davies said. "In turn, you can reduce customer churn and turn customer comments into a revenue generator."

Closing the loop: How technology can help

The Rezidor Hotel Group has found a way to take quick action on hotel guest feedback, even while the guest is still there. Seven months ago, it deployed enterprise feedback management software from Menlo Park, Calif.-based SaaS vendor Medallia. By asking a guest to give an email address and leave feedback on the hotel's customer portal, employees see comments during the guest's stay, as well as notes that other hotel staff members feed into the system based on guest comments. Should a problem arise, the front desk can resolve it. The given hotel also follows up with a survey.

"What was happening is, we would get a negative comment or suggestion and we would note it, report on it, but we did nothing about it," Schulz said. "With Medallia, employees have to take action ."

At the front desk, employees now see a portal or ticker tape of customer feedback: Green is good, yellow not so much and red is bad. The front desk can click on the red comments, to see what they are and act on them.

"We respond to problems during the stay, not just after," he said.

The system also automatically sends out electronic feedback surveys to guests, and has a 30% response rate -- a high number based on past experiences, he said. Those surveys have provided invaluable information, Schulz said.

But when formulating a survey and analyzing the results, do not get caught up in the big-picture number.

Too many companies conduct a survey of thousands of users and look at that one customer satisfaction percent or whatever number the company is going by.

"It is so important to pay attention to what the individual is saying and respond to an individual complaint. Although it's important to aggregate customer feedback to see trends, you can't overlook the individual, and a lot of companies do," Davies said.

What customer feedback management technology can do for your company is automate policies for responding to customer feedback; whether positive or negative, aggregate customer feedback to indentify problem areas and force employees through alerts to at the minimum respond -- but optimally to resolve a problem.

"The area that most companies drop the ball is responding to customer feedback," Davies said. "They spend so much time on planning what they're going to ask -- with questions they think are important versus what the customer thinks is important -- and they get so caught up in the survey stage that when they get the results they see a number and don't do anything about the comments."

Customer service strategy more important in emerging markets

By Barney Beal, News Director

01 Dec 2009 | SearchCRM.com

Hoping to turn to emerging markets to turn around your business in the recession? Better make sure you have a sound customer service strategy in place.

Customers in emerging markets can be more sensitive to customer service than their counterparts in mature markets, according to the results of a recent survey by Accenture.

The survey, conducted over the summer, found that 87% of consumers in emerging markets switched providers in at least one industry sector because of poor service in the past year. That's 18% more than the global average. And, the survey suggests, they're not hesitant to tell others about their experiences -- 69% tell their acquaintances about bad experiences and 25% use social media to spread the word. In emerging markets, 40% of consumers said they use blogs and other online media to tell others about their negative experiences.


What’s more, customers in emerging markets seem to have more bad experiences to share. Among respondents in emerging markets, 68% said companies "sometimes, rarely or never" met their expectations, compared with 56% in mature markets.

For the survey, emerging markets included India, Brazil, China and South Africa. Mature markets included Australia, Canada, France, the U.K., Germany, Belgium and the United States. The online survey was completed by more than 5,000 consumers.

Customer service technology is playing a bigger role in emerging markets than it does in established markets.

"The emerging markets are saying technology is improving service, and they're more apt to report on that service and tell others how they perceive companies," said Chris Allen, managing director, Accenture CRM Service Transformation practice. "Established markets tend to point to tech as not being as influential in improving customer service."

It's therefore important for companies entering emerging markets to provide multiple channels for customers and to track satisfaction or dissatisfaction, Allen said.

The survey results also found that:

  • 52% of emerging market consumers use the Internet to search for help vs. 44% of mature market consumers.
  • 49% of emerging market consumers surf corporate websites vs. 40% of mature market consumers.
  • 35% of emerging market consumers engage in online chats vs. 15% of mature market consumers.
  • 14% of emerging market consumers use text messaging to seek assistance vs. 3% of mature market consumers.

Customer service an issue for all

Of course, it's not just emerging markets where customer service is an issue -- and creating customer churn. In many ways, customers are simply harder to satisfy.

"Generally, there's a perception that service is getting better and companies are improving, yet most customers are reporting they're less pleased with service providers," Allen said. "There's this perception that service is better but they're drawing the short end of the stick."

Need proof that today's consumers all over the world are a fickle lot? In an open-ended survey question asking respondents to list companies that deliver excellent customer service and those that deliver substandard, 50% of the top responses appeared on both lists.

In fact, despite the recession, customer service remained the No. 1 reason consumers cited for switching vendors.

Truly engaging and satisfying customers requires differentiation, according to Allen.

"There is no one-size-fits-all service model," he said. "It's really impossible to do that. The next generation of services is going to be more around creating differentiated customer experience and tailored customer experience based on customer preferences."

Still, emerging markets do offer growth opportunities. Nearly two-thirds of respondents in emerging markets expressed an interest in trying goods and services produced in other countries, roughly the same number who said they did not care where a product was produced.

"Certainly, companies need to realize that channels are more important in emerging markets as far as interacting with those customers and tracking their satisfaction," Allen said. "In general, though, the differentiated service expectation is every bit as high a priority. Using technology to deliver those experiences is really the opportunity."


Vietnam - News and Regulations

INFRASTRUCTURE/POWER-“BUILD OPERATE TRANSFER” NEWS- HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW BOT DECREE ON INVESTING IN INFRASTRUCTURE”

The Government of Vietnam issued Decree 108 regulating investment on the basis of BOT, BTO and BT contracts on 27 November 2009. It will take effect on 15 January 2010 and completely replace previous regulations on BOT, BTO and BT investment in Vietnam.

Decree 108 provides regulations on sectors, conditions, order and procedures for investment, investment incentives applicable to, and the rights and obligations of parties to BOT, BTO and BT contracts. Decree 108 shall apply to investors, to State bodies authorized to enter into and implement project contracts, and to other bodies, organizations, individuals and enterprises involved in implementation of projects.

Pursuant to Decree 108, the Government encourages the implementation of projects for building, operating and managing new infrastructure facilities or projects for renovating, expanding, modernizing, operating and managing existing works of the following sectors:

- Roads, bridges, tunnels and road ferry landings;

- Railways, rail bridges and tunnels;

- Airports, seaports and river-ports;

- Water supply systems; drainage systems; and waste and sewage collection and treatment systems;

- Power plans and power transmission lines; and

- Other infrastructure facilities as decided by the Prime Minister.

The selection of investors can be accomplished in two ways:

Where there are two or more investors register the project with the Authorized State Body within 30 working days from the last publication date of the relevant published list of projects, the selection of investor for the project must be through tender process.

There are two cases where direct appointment may be applied, namely: (i) where there is only one investor registers the project with the Authorized State Body within 30 working days from the last publication date of the relevant published list of projects; and (ii) the project is required to be implemented in order to satisfy an urgent need to use infrastructure facilities as permitted by the Prime Minister.

An investor who is selected through tender process or direct appointment must agree with the Authorized State Body on the terms and conditions of the BOT, BTO and BT project contracts and other related contracts (if any). Upon agreement, the investor and the Authorized State Body will sign off the BOT, BTO or BT project contracts and related contracts (if any). Then the investor must apply for issuance of investment certificate to the project company. Regarding foreign invested project company, the investment certificate is also considered as the business registration certificate of the project company. After the project has been issued with an investment certificate, the investor and the State Authorized Body will officially sign the project contracts.

Rights and obligations of project companies must be agreed in one of the following ways, (i) the project company shall sign the project contract and become, jointly with the investor, one party of the project contract, or (ii) the Authorized State Body, the investor and the project company shall sign a document permitting the project company to assume and exercise the rights and obligations of the investor.

Security for the obligation to perform the project contract may be provided in the form of a bank guarantee or other security for obligations as prescribed in the Civil Law.

Under the old Decree 78, the security ratio for the contract obligation must not be lower than 3%, 2% and 1% of the total investment capital of the project, subject to the level of total investment capital of the project. Decree 108 has adjusted the security ratio and the capital level, e.g. for projects with total investment capital up to VND 1,500 billion, the security ratio must not be lower than 2% of total investment capital.

From 15 January 2010 (the effective date of Decree 108), not only the Ministry of Planning and

Investment but also provincial people’s committees shall have power to issue investment certificates for BOT, BTO and BT contract projects in certain cases. Regarding tax incentives, Decree 108 only provides general statement whereby tax incentives applicable to BOT, BTO and BT project contracts shall be in accordance with the applicable tax laws and regulations. BOT and BTO companies shall be exempt from land rent for the whole duration of implementation of the projects and BT companies shall be exempt from land rent and land use fees for the area of land used to construct the BT project works for the duration of construction of the works.

Decree 108 contains the following transitional regulations:

Investors implementing BOT, BTO and BT contract projects for which an investment certificate was issued prior to 15 January 2010 shall continue to implement in accordance with their current project contracts and investment certificates.

BOT, BTO and BT contract projects which already had a decision on selection of investor prior to 15 January 2010 shall not be required to apply the procedures on tendering in Decree 108.

Unless otherwise decided by the Prime Minister, any investor who entered into a BOT, BTO or BT project contract prior to 15 January 2010 and who has not yet been granted an Investment Certificate must amend the current project contract and carry out procedures for issuance of investment certificate as required by Decree 108.


INSURANCE - HSBC Vietnam helps life insurer collect premium

HSBC Bank (Vietnam) is supporting Bao Viet Life Insurance Corp in collecting the insurance premium from the company's agent at over 1,600 post offices nationwide.

After its successful cooperation with Vietnam Post Corp (VNPost) for offering HSBC Bank's services via 1,600 post offices in all over the nation in September 2009, HSBC Bank (Vietnam) Ltd signed an agreement for collecting insurance premium for Bao Viet Life Insurance Corp.

HSBC Bank (Vietnam) is the first foreign bank to introduce this service in Vietnam and Bao Viet Life Insurance, the member company in Bao Viet Group, one of the bank's strategic partners has become the first corporate customer to launch the product.

The bank chose Ha Tay as the pilot destination and up to 2010, HSBC Bank (Vietnam) will develop the service for every individual customers of Bao Viet Life Insurance Corp so that they can pay the premium at any post office nationwide.

Nguyen Quang Tam, Bao Viet Life Insurance Corp's vice general director said after successful Bancassurance network, his corporation and HSBC Vietnam made one step forward when cooperating with VNPost to bring the customers convenient services with the purpose of helping Bao Viet Insurance Co become the leading life insurer in Vietnam.CAFEF

BILATERAL TRADE - HK puts more emphasis on Vietnam

Hong Kong is exerting greater efforts to speed up trade and investment expansion with Vietnam, even in the difficult time of global economic downturn, given the double-digit growth in two-way trade.

Bilateral trade between Hong Kong and Vietnam in the first 10 months of this year grew 14 percent year on-year to exceed $3.5 billion, according to figures of the Hong Kong Trade and Economic Office. The growth is higher than that in the first nine months, when figures of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) showed that two-way trade had expanded by some 13.6 percent year-on-year to over $3 billion.

HKTDC assistant chief economist Dickson Ho and Simon Galpin, director general of investment Promotion at the agency InvestHK, shared with the Daily about what Hong Kong is doing to speed up trade and investment links with Vietnam. Ho said HKTDC was leading business delegations to emerging markets including Vietnam. "Vietnam is definitely the target of HKTDC. We take companies over to see Vietnam which is obviously a place we call alternative production:'

Ho said many Chinese companies were manufacturing garments and shoes as well as electronic and telecommunications items, which are more hi-tech and value-added, and that Vietnam was moving in this way to more value-added products. Ho said some of the Hong Kong businesses were relocating facilities to Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, where labour cost is relatively low, as a result of global supply chain.

Galpin of InvestHK said if companies wanted to find locations for manufacturing and cheap land and labour, mainland China and Vietnam would be.their destinations of choice. He said InvestHK would arrange more visits to Vietnam for Hong Kong businesses to gauge this market and also attract more Vietnamese firms to start up and list in Hong Kong, particularly next year when their agreement on avoidance of double taxation comes into effect. "We think that the agreement on avoidance of double taxation between Hong Kong and Vietnam will facilitate two-way investment flows between the two destinations;' Galpin said.

Galpin said Hong Kong was successful in attracting companies from mainland China which use Hong Kong as a place to raise capital and as a window and platform to draw the rest of the world. For this reason, he expected Vietnam could be the next big source of projects for Hong Kong and pledged the same level of support to Vietnamese companies.

Galpin said InvestHK would provide Vietnamese companies with free information about this market as well as practical assistance in finding offices and staff and getting media coverage and publicity for their expansion as well as ongoing support. He said Hong Kong was an open and transparent market where most of the companies that start up with small business were able to afford a base in Hong Kong because taxes were simple and low. On top of that, Galpin said companies also paid no sales, import or capital gains taxes.

"Hong Kong only taxes the income generated in Hong Kong;' Ho said, adding that Hong Kong was a renowned service and financial platform in Asia for Vietnamese companies to raise funds through getting their stocks listed on the stock exchange there. He said the advantage of listing stocks in Hong Kong was that Vietnamese companies attracted international investors and made their business known on the global arena.

"In the past two years, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has made very clear that it wants more overseas companies. Vietnam is a place that we target because we want to diversify... and want different kinds of companies to be listed in Hong Kong;' Ho said.SGTD

RESOURCES - Thaioil enters solvents business

HCM CITY — Shell’s solvent business in Viet Nam had been handed over to TOP Solvent Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Thaioil Group, after the assets purchase agreements were signed between Thaioil and Shell in October 2008, TOP Solvent announced on Wednesday.

"Thaioil’s expansion into solvents is in line with the company’s business strategy to strengthen its long-term growth and establish a presence in the international markets," said Surong Bulkul, CEO of Thai Oil Public Co Ltd.

He said in 2008 Thaioil branched into a retail trading segment by acquiring solvent operations both in Viet Nam and Thailand from the Shell group.

Thaioil has established TOP Solvent Co, acquiring 80.5 per cent of shares from Sak Chaisidhi Co and its distribution business in Thailand to operate solvents businesses in Thailand and Viet Nam.

"Our focus is on expanding the refining operation that is linked to petrochemical production and directly to end-users," Surong said.

TOP Solvent offers a wide range of solvent products as well as chemical solvents for various uses, including the manufacturing of coatings, thinners, resins, inks, adhesives, electronics, cleaning agents and petrochemicals, with a market share of 30 per cent in Thailand. — VNS

Friday 4 December 2009

Vietnam - News and Regulations

TRADE – REGIONAL INTEGRATION - Import duties cut under ASEAN-ANZ trade pact

HA NOI — Thousands of items imported from Australia, New Zealand and a number of ASEAN countries to Viet Nam will enjoy tax incentives under the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) in the 2010-12 period, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).

Under a newly-issued MoF special preferential import tariff, commodities from Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Myanmar and Singapore shipped directly to Viet Nam will get the tax preference provided that they satisfy the MoF’s origin regulations.

AANZFTA tariffs on poultry are 5 per cent, fresh and frozen buffalo and beef 10-15 per cent; fresh and frozen pork 20-25 per cent; poultry products 10-20 per cent; fish 20-30 per cent; milk 7-25 per cent; flowers 25-35 per cent; and cigarettes 100 per cent.

Almost all imported commodities will have tariffs gradually reduced between 2010 and 2012. For example, tariffs on powdered milk without sugar and other sweeteners will be lowered from 10 per cent in 2010 and 2011 to 7 per cent in 2012.

No change on cigarettes

Tariffs on cigarettes will remain stable during the implementation of the special preferential tariffs.

The new tariffs will take effect since January 1 next year.

Australia and New Zealand have so far also cut import tariffs on 85 per cent and 96.4 per cent, respectively, of Vietnamese good items including textiles, fabric and minerals since April this year.

With last year’s trade turnover of US$5.6 billion, Viet Nam currently ranks the eighth among Australia’s trade partners in the ASEAN bloc.

Bilateral trade between the two countries has also grown 22 per cent on average for the past five years.

Two-way trade between Viet Nam and New Zealand also reached more than $300 million last year. — VNS

INVESTMENT FUNDING - Companies strengthen cooperation to set up foreign investment funds

In order to catch investment opportunities when the global economic recession is over and Vietnamese economy fully recovered, enterprises are strengthening to call capital for investment funds in Vietnamese market.

The attractive fields namely finance, retailing, education and health are also in the business strategy of foreign investors in the country. Lately, Blackhorse Asset Management Pte Ltd (BAM) planned to expand investment in Vietnam through completing the purchase of 95 percent stake of Vietnam America Vocational Training College (VATC).

Education is the basis for our investment expansion in future, Paul Rubens-director of BAM cum general director of VATC said. BAM obtained Vietnamese Ministry of Finance's license to set up HCM City representative office in 2006, including Blackhorse Enhanced Vietnam Inc (BEVI)-a fund focusing on listed and unlisted firms of Vietnam.

John Engle, managing director of BAM in a statement said that Vietnam shows the most attractive growth story in the world at this time, BEVI as an open fund will provide investment methods to global investors and help them catch opportunities in Vietnam effectively.

Through the main broker Citigroup, BEVI can pump much capital into Vietnam's listed firms. Concerning BEVI's investment expansion, John added that the fund's size is expected to surge three times to $100 million by late 2010 thus BEVI will have to double the force of research groups in HCM City.

Recently, Saigon Asset Management (SAM) and RNG-a domestic fund management firm whose majority stake is held by Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corp (REE), cooperated to establish a foreign fund to catch investment opportunities from the economic recovery of Vietnam. This will be a member fund in US with the aim to invest in real estate projects, private companies preparing to become public companies and listed firms in Vietnam.

SAM and RNG also plan to invite a well known research and investor group to join the fund according to Vietnam's current laws. They are administrators and researchers in leading enterprises and senior experts in some fields of Vietnam and foreign countries. Now, SAM and RNG are preparing to meet investors in northern America, Europe and Asia in 2010 early and target to finish the capital mobilisation within six months. Initial size of the fund is estimated at $100 million. Also, RNG will raise capital to set up more domestic fund calling investments from Vietnamese giants. A part of capital of forthcoming domestic fund will be invested in domestic funds managed by RNG, Mai Thanh-chair cum general director of REE Corp revealed.

We believe that it is right time to apply the model in Vietnam to both bring interests to investors and upgrade Vietnam's competitive strength in the global market. Before the rapid and effective recovery of Vietnam, the combination among leading companies will bring in many attractive opportunities and help BEVI access senior experts in a lot of different sectors, Thanh added.

SAM also reported that the cash volume of its two funds VEH and VPH is 10-20 percent left. The sum of money will continue being disbursed in both stock and property markets from now to the year end if convenient.DT

BANKING CAPITAL RAISING - Banks enhance C/Ds issue

Along with the capital mobilisation from economic institutions and individuals through savings and valuable papers, Certificate of Deposit (C/D) is becoming one of favourite capital raising products of the banks.

Viet Russia Joint Venture Bank (VRB) announced it continues carrying out the long term C/D issue of dong and US dollar with an attractive and flexible interest rate mechanism. C/Ds of VRB have the face value of one million dong or $100 (as for individual customers), 50 million dong or $50,000 (as for institutions) with the terms of 13, 18, 24 and 36 months. The first year interest rate of these C/Ds is 10 percent pa for the dong and 3.5 percent pa for 13-month US dollar C/Ds.

Regarding big banks, after the success of C/D issues 1, 2 and 3, Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (Bidv) has announced to issue the fourth tranche C/Ds in dong at the par value of one million dong (as for individual customers) and 50 million dong (as for institutions). Especially, C/Ds of Bidv cover both short and medium terms: 4, 7 and 13 months. Customers buying C/Ds of Bidv can receive an attractive rate of over 9.3 percent pa and 9.99 percent pa at maximum.

In addition, with the method of progressive interest rate of C/Ds, the receivable interest rate will increase based on deposits. The more deposits are sent, the higher interest rate depositors can enjoy. To add the utilities for depositors who re-send money at Bidv, the principal and interests of customers will carry an interest rate higher than term deposit rates with ordinary end-period interests in the first conversion phase.

According to an investment assistance of a commercial bank, C/D is the capital mobilisation method through issuing valuable papers. C/Ds carry the longer terms compared with ordinary savings.

Through issuing C/Ds, banks will be more secured in the capital usage plan thanks to the sustainability of raised capital. However, to create flexible conditions for C/D buyers, banks should diversify terms of C/Ds, promotions in interest rates and premature payment.

For example, apart from mortgaging C/Ds as a collateral to lend bank loans, Bidv's C/D holders (if demand) can pay prematurely in line with the holding time. Or as for VRB's C/Ds, customers can be paid the whole or a part of interest rates prematurely but the payment times are not over five as for each customer. The premature payment rate of VRB's C/Ds depends on the holding time: below 6 months, C/D interest rate will be equal to demand saving rate, 6-12 months at 60 percent of receivable interests, 12-24 months at 70 percent of interests and 24-36 months at 80 percent of interests of C/Ds.

Another issuer Sacombank rules that if customers demand to use capital before it matures then they can discount or mortgage C/Ds of Sacombank to re-borrow loans. Customers are allowed to discount C/Ds of Sacombank when the holding time is over a half of C/D terms as from the issue date. In case customers want to mortgage C/Ds, the rate of lending and C/D face value will be calculated based on Sacombank's mortgage lending rate.

A financier said that by diversifying banking products to create optimum conditions for customers, the products such as C/Ds, bills of exchange, bonds will be added more utilities. By that time, customers will have more options while banks have extra effective capital mobilisation channel.TBKT

WORLDBANK ON VIETNAM - WB reassured by Vietnam steps toward stability

It is "reassuring" to see Vietnam rebalancing its economic policy toward stability, but more turbulence could be on the cards as the global economy continues to recover, the World Bank said on Thursday.

Even as monetary policy tightens, inflation is likely to see some acceleration in Vietnam in 2010, it said in a semi-annual report.

"It is reassuring to see that the government is rebalancing its objectives once again, giving more priority to stability. The decisions made between late October and early December amount to an appropriate macroeconomic framework being put in place," it said.

Vietnam's macroeconomic management for the past two years has so far been effective, despite having a relatively "heterodox and at times rudimentary nature", the Bank said in its report, entitled "Taking Stock".

Vietnam had taken a series of small steps starting in October to begin to tighten monetary policy, capped by last week's currency devaluation and interest rate hike. The government also announced this week an end to subsidies on short-term business loans, which has been a pillar of its stimulus package.

The moves were designed to address imbalances that emerged during roughly a year of expansionary monetary and fiscal policy to counter the global economic crisis, including chronic currency weakness spurred by dollar hoarding and expectations of depreciation.reuters

RESOURCES INVESTMENT RETURN - More investment opportunities for petroleum shares in 2010

According to Petroleum Securities Co (PSI), average Return on Assets (ROA) of the petroleum sector is 5.26 percent and Return on Equity (ROE) averages at 14.3 percent.

The number of petroleum companies whose listing applications are being prepared by PSI is very high. Particularly, from now to next Q1, four petroleum firms will be listed on Hochiminh Stock Exchange (STC) and eight on Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX), six on UPCoM floor. Also, one company and one corporation in petroleum sector will carry out equitisation in 2010.

On Vietnamese stock market, the petroleum sector accounts for 11.46 percent of market capitalisation, or 66.435 trillion dong with 16 share codes, average EPS of latest 3Q of PetroVietnam's listed firms reached 1,797 dong and EPS growth is posted at 0.43 percent.

Vietnam makes up 1.52 percent of demand and 4.4 percent of oil supply output in south-eastern Asia. As forecasted by International Energy Agency (IEA), the oil consumption demand will surge again in Q4 of 2009. China and the countries outside OECD will be the major consumption markets. Till Q1 of 2010, the crude oil price attained about $77 a barrel, and by $80.33/barrel in next Q4.CAFEF

PRIVATE ENTERPRISES - New 76,000 enterprises established in Jan-Nov

Ministry of planning and investment has said that there are over 76,500 new enterprises that have registered for establishment from the beginning of 2009 up to now, an increase of 28.3 percent year-on-year.

With the current growth rate, there will be about 540,000 new enterprises in Vietnam in 2010, surpassing 8 percent against the proposed plan.

The amount of private enterprises registering for establishment has increased significantly. It's predicted that there will be 540,000 new enterprises in the period of 2006-2010, twice as much as the previous five years.

Despite the boost in term of quantity, there is a series of limitations in those new firms such as small production scale, out-of-date technologies, low capital raising capacity, and weak enterprise management qualification.vietstock

REAL ESTATE - Land values to stay mostly unchanged in HCM City

Land valuations in most parts of HCM City will remain unchanged next year as the city administration wants to create stable conditions to attract investment, officials say.

Under a new proposal the HCM City People's Committee recently submitted a proposal to the city legislature, only 17 of 2,890 streets in the city will have their land valuations adjusted for the new year.

Dong Khoi, Nguyen Hue and Le Loi streets in the city centre remain at the top with the highest land valuation of 81 million dong per square metre. Meanwhile, land in outlying Can Gio District will be valued at 1.2 million dong per square metre, the lowest rate in the city.

Land valuations set by the city government every year are mainly used for tax purposes. If passed by the city legislature, the new land valuation system will take effect on January 1, 2010.

Land valuations in some districts this year have more than doubled from 2007. The increased values have led to higher land use taxes in Phu My Hung residential area in District 7, leading to an ongoing dispute between the property developer and residents over who should pay the taxes.Thanhniennews

FOOD INDUSTRY - House Foods Corp contributes $20m in Masan Vietnam Co

House Foods Corp, a Japan-based leading group in beverage and food industry has signed cooperation contract with Masan Vietnam Joint Stock Co on December 3. Under the contract, the Japanese party would contribute total capital of $20 million under the form of purchasing 9 million shares at offered price of 40,000 dong per share, counting for 1.85 percent of the total capital in Masan Group.

Masan Group Joint Stock Co specifies in producing beverage and food, and financial services. The company has officially listed shares on the southern bourse since November 2009.TBKT

ETHANOL PLANTS - PET raises ownership cap at Bio-ethanol Dung Quat to 51pct

PetroVietnam general Services Joint Stock Corp (coded PET) has recently increased the holding rate at Bio-ethanol Dung Quat project to 51 percent. The project has total investment capital of $120 million, with three main capital contributors of PET, PVFC and Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Co Ltd

At present, the contractors are carrying out ground clearance process. It' expected that the project will be put into operation in 2011.

The Bio-Ethanol Dung Quat Plant has designed capacity of 100 million litres of ethanol per year. The products will be mix with petroleum products under the ratio of 5-10 percent.TBKT

WATER PROJECTS - Manila Water inks deal for water projects in Vietnam

Ayala-led Manila Water Co. Inc. has signed a development agreement with REE Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp. to study private participation in Vietnam's water services projects, particularly in Ho Chi Minh city and its surrounding areas.

Manila Water said the agreement details the projects that it will pursue with its partners during the development period.

"Through this initiative, Manila Water looks forward to complementing its existing management contract to reduce leakage in HCM City as it expands its footprint in Vietnam," Manila Water told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday.

REE is one of the largest mechanical and civil engineering groups incorporated in Vietnam, while Mitsubishi is one of the world's largest technological groups.

Manila Water, which distributes water in Metro Manila's east zone, reported a 14 percent growth in profits for the first 9 months of the year due to higher revenues and better operating efficiency.

The company's net income increased to P2.27 billion in January to September from last year's P1.99 billion. Revenues likewise rose 6 percent to P7.04 billion from the P6.63 billion recorded in the same period in 2008.ABS -CBS

PHARMACEUTICALS - Walmark joins Vietnam's pharmaceutical markets

The Czech-based Walmark Group, the world's large producer in functional food industry has officially confirmed its participation in Vietnamese markets under the introduction of AMV Group in the framework of 2009 Medicine and Pharmaceutical Fair held in Hanoi from December 2-5.

At the same time, Walmark Group introduced its products to be offered in Vietnamese pharmaceutical markets. Oldrich Caper, the group's manager in Asian region stated that Walmark's presence in Vietnam was considered a turning point in the group's new development step in Asia.

Walmark has nine branches in Europe so far. The group has exported its pharmaceutical products to 35 countries in all over the world. Each year, Walmark introduces to public five new products on average. There are over 200 various types of products under the trademark of Walmark in the world now.TBKT

Pharmaceutical Co reports better business results

Hau Giang Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Co (coded DHG) announced gaining combined revenue in the first nine months of this year of 1.218 trillion dong, pre-tax profit of 246 billion dong, up 116 percent against the same period of last year, fulfilling 88 percent of the adjusted year plan.

In addition, the company's profit after tax in Jan-Sep was estimated at 223 billion dong.

Previously, the company has already issued bonus shares for existing shareholders with the ratio of 3:1. In details, the ex-interest session was November 12, and registration deadline of November 16. It's expected that these newly issued shares will be officially traded on the market on December 25, 2009.

The company planned to pay 2009 dividend of 25 percent. DHG has already advanced dividend with the ratio of 15 percent for its existing shareholders previously.VNS


Thursday 3 December 2009

List of most expensive cities for expatriate employees

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

These are lists of the world's most expensive cities, according to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting [1] and Economist Intelligence Unit [2] cost-of-living surveys. Other surveys, such as [3] are not covered by this article. Various factors enter into a city's cost-of-living for expatriate employees, such as monetary value, consumer confidence, investment, interest rates, exchange rates of the country's currency, and housing costs.

This list does not account for cost-of-living savings accrued to local citizens through government-subsidized housing, health care, and education, differences in taxation, and many other factors irrelevant to expatriates. Cost of living may be much higher for expatriates than for local residents in a developing country, especially if expatriates expect a standard of living similar to a developed country.

Mercer surveys

Surveys are taken in March of each year.

2009 ↓

City ↓

2008 ↓

2007 ↓

2006 ↓

2005 ↓

2004 ↓

2003 ↓

2002 ↓

1

JapanTokyo, Japan

2

4

3

1

1

1

3

2

JapanOsaka, Japan

11

8

6

2

4

3

6

3

RussiaMoscow, Russia

1

1

1

4

3

2

2

4

SwitzerlandGeneva, Switzerland

8

7

7

6

6

6

28

5

Hong KongHong Kong

6

5

4

9

5

4

1

6

SwitzerlandZürich, Switzerland

9

9

9

7

9

9

32

7

DenmarkCopenhagen, Denmark

7

6

8

8

8

15

62

8

United StatesNew York City, United States

22

15

10

13

12

10

7

9

People's Republic of ChinaBeijing, People's Republic of China

20

20

14

19

11

5

4

10

SingaporeSingapore

13

14

17

34

46

32

24

11

ItalyMilan, Italy

10

11

13

11

13

17

63

12

People's Republic of ChinaShanghai, People's Republic of China

24

26

20

30

16

11

5

13

FranceParis, France

12

13

16

12

17

23

74

14

NorwayOslo, Norway

4

10

10

10

15

13

40

15

VenezuelaCaracas, Venezuela

89

129

136

138

134

128

55

16

United KingdomLondon, United Kingdom

3

2

5

3

2

7

10

17

IsraelTel Aviv, Israel

14

17

24

39

33

40

37

18

ItalyRome, Italy

16

18

21

17

21

41

99

19

FinlandHelsinki, Finland

21

22

25

20

23

36

79

20

United Arab EmiratesDubai, United Arab Emirates

52

34

25

73

83

63

45

21

AustriaVienna, Austria

19

19

21

16

19

34

77

22

People's Republic of ChinaShenzhen, People's Republic of China

61

53

44

63

30

18

13

23

United StatesLos Angeles, United States

55

42

29

44

27

22

19

24

People's Republic of ChinaGuangzhou, People's Republic of China

24

68

54

65

32

18

11

25

Republic of IrelandDublin, Ireland

16

16

18

13

14

21

73

26

United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

65

45

30

64

62

39

27

27

CameroonDouala, Cameroon

17

24

27

22

25

31

65

28

GreeceAthens, Greece

25

29

56

41

50

71

111

29

NetherlandsAmsterdam, The Netherlands

25

25

41

24

26

52

102

30

SlovakiaBratislava, Slovakia

45

31

49

31

44

56

31

United StatesWhite Plains, United States

89

70

43

45

52

20

16

32

NigeriaLagos, Nigeria

30

37

31

96

111

90

33

IranTehran, Iran

74

118

125

129

122

111

34

Côte d'IvoireAbidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

51

35

45

26

24

35

72

35

SenegalDakar, Senegal

41

33

45

36

47

56

36

United StatesSan Francisco, United States

78

54

34

50

38

30

21

37

SpainMadrid, Spain

28

26

53

46

61

86

117

38

LuxembourgLuxembourg, Luxembourg

43

43

56

33

39

66

39

SpainBarcelona, Spain

31

31

56

43

56

81

40

AlgeriaAlgiers, Algeria

57

50

51

58

60

72

41

United StatesHonolulu, United States

77

64

67

61

57

32

23

42

BelgiumBrussels, Belgium

39

44

70

41

53

68

112

43

LebanonBeirut, Lebanon

80

63

32

52

37

25

18

44

KazakhstanAlmaty, Kazakhstan

44

30

52

75

74

72

45

United StatesMiami, United States

75

51

39

57

55

27

25

46

RussiaSt. Petersburg, Russia

18

12

12

15

10

12

8

47

GermanyMunich, Germany

37

39

65

37

43

62

48

GermanyFrankfurt, Germany

40

40

61

34

42

65

49

GermanyBerlin, Germany

38

45

72

38

28

58

104

50

United StatesChicago, United States

84

58

38

52

35

25

20

51

South KoreaSeoul, South Korea

5

3

2

5

7

8

9

52

TurkeyIstanbul, Turkey

23

38

15

22

18

42

44

53

JordanAmman, Jordan

88

77

62

67

63

46

30

54

GermanyDüsseldorf, Germany

46

45

62

32

40

63

55

LatviaRiga, Latvia

46

72

81

54

48

27

22

56

GermanyHamburg, Germany

50

57

77

49

58

83

57

EgyptCairo, Egypt

101

93

93

97

99

102

51

58

VietnamHanoi, Vietnam

91

56

32

50

29

14

11

59

CroatiaZagreb, Croatia

49

59

79

48

59

75

60

United StatesBoston, United States

99

79

84

79

70

54

61

Republic of ChinaTaipei, Republic of China

63

48

28

29

31

29

15

62

FranceLyon, France

57

71

91

61

69

89

63

United StatesHouston, United States

98

83

76

70

73

46

36

64

PortugalLisbon, Portugal

57

73

88

66

71

94

118

65

IndiaNew Delhi, India

55

68

73

110

116

109

91

66

AustraliaSydney, Australia

15

21

19

20

20

67

95

67

IndiaMumbai, India

48

52

68

105

109

114

92

68

United StatesWashington, D.C., United States

107

85

83

78

68

51

41

69

VietnamHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam

100

60

37

56

36

16

14

70

Czech RepublicPrague, Czech Republic

29

49

50

28

49

49

75

71

Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico

104

75

35

42

65

43

35

72

BrazilSão Paulo, Brazil

25

62

34

119

128

136

73

BrazilRio de Janeiro, Brazil

31

64

40

124

131

137

74

EstoniaTallinn, Estonia

76

90

96

60

75

60

75

United StatesAtlanta, United States

109

87

86

83

85

61

76

United StatesMorristown, United States

111

87

84

80

72

53

77

KuwaitKuwait City, Kuwait

94

80

78

72

64

43

32

78

CyprusLimassol, Cyprus

68

74

118

100

95

106

79

SwedenStockholm, Sweden

31

23

36

18

22

48

94

80

MoroccoCasablanca, Morocco

81

80

88

59

66

69

81

UkraineKiev, Ukraine

42

28

21

54

54

24

17

82

BahrainManama, Bahrain

112

91

87

86

78

43

32

83

LithuaniaVilnius, Lithuania

85

97

116

91

91

85

84

United StatesSeattle, United States

113

102

102

103

90

80

85

CanadaToronto, Canada

54

82

47

82

89

104

104

86

People's Republic of ChinaTianjin, People's Republic of China

123

130

128

131

115

101

87

United StatesDenver, United States

115

115

97

94

100

69

88

KenyaNairobi, Kenya

103

102

107

119

121

105

89

CanadaCalgary, Canada

66

92

71

98

114

116

90

Saudi ArabiaRiyadh, Saudi Arabia

119

110

98

88

77

50

31

90

SloveniaLjubljana, Slovenia

82

93

106

76

82

100

92

PanamaPanama City, Panama

124

124

121

114

106

91

92

AustraliaMelbourne, Australia

36

74

74

68

67

111

127

94

CanadaVancouver, Canada

64

89

56

87

96

110

95

GhanaAccra, Ghana

96

76

75

91

97

98

96

MalaysiaKuala Lumpur, Malaysia

106

106

114

117

104

97

97

United StatesCleveland, United States

129

118

110

109

98

87

98

ThailandBangkok, Thailand

105

95

127

125

119

125

99

United StatesSt. Louis, United States

120

115

103

102

92

82

100

MalawiBlantyre, Malawi

125

127

129

130

135

140

141

101

GermanyLeipzig, Germany

95

107

123

85

93

106

101

BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria

97

108

111

81

79

83

103

CanadaMontreal, Canada

72

98

80

107

113

120

104

Dominican RepublicSanto Domingo, Dominican Republic

137

132

126

99

142

122

105

ZambiaLusaka, Zambia

101

101

41

123

125

129

106

IndonesiaJakarta, Indonesia

82

55

48

71

45

38

53

107

RomaniaBucharest, Romania

71

78

114

103

129

122

108

HungaryBudapest, Hungary

61

65

65

24

34

37

75

109

Saudi ArabiaJeddah, Saudi Arabia

126

113

100

89

81

58

110

BangladeshDhaka, Bangladesh

132

125

131

127

117

94

111

United StatesPortland, United States

128

123

111

112

105

92

112

ArgentinaBuenos Aires, Argentina

138

139

142

142

141

141

133

113

PolandWarsaw, Poland

35

67

62

27

76

54

114

United StatesDetroit, United States

127

118

122

101

101

79

115

Sri LankaColombo, Sri Lanka

130

130

132

132

127

118

116

AustraliaBrisbane, Australia

57

86

99

84

87

121

117

AustraliaPerth, Australia

53

84

93

93

94

126

137

118

United StatesPittsburgh, United States

133

128

113

111

112

88

119

GuatemalaGuatemala City, Guatemala

122

107

93

108

108

98

120

ColombiaBogotá, Colombia

87

112

130

133

139

142

121

CanadaOttawa, Canada

85

109

90

122

124

127

122

PeruLima, Peru

115

117

118

118

118

108

123

JamaicaKingston, Jamaica

120

121

109

105

103

77

124

BruneiBandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

114

114

118

113

110

103

125

United KingdomBirmingham, United Kingdom

66

41

69

47

51

76

89

126

PhilippinesManila, Philippines

110

137

141

143

138

135

127

United StatesWinston-Salem, United States

115

126

124

119

107

93

128

ChileSantiago, Chile

92

102

91

128

123

134

129

United KingdomGlasgow, United Kingdom

69

36

60

40

41

74

80

130

AustraliaAdelaide, Australia

73

96

108

89

88

124

131

UruguayMontevideo, Uruguay

136

140

138

140

143

139

132

Costa RicaSan José, Costa Rica

139

138

134

135

130

113

133

IndiaBangalore, India

118

134

139

141

137

138

139

134

TunisiaTunis, Tunisia

133

135

133

126

120

119

135

IndiaChennai (Madras), India

117

133

137

138

133

132

135

136

EcuadorQuito, Ecuador

142

141

135

137

136

131

137

MexicoMexico City, Mexico

108

104

81

95

84

77

28

138

New ZealandAuckland, New Zealand

78

99

100

69

80

115

140

139

New ZealandWellington, New Zealand

93

111

105

76

86

117

142

140

PakistanKarachi, Pakistan

141

142

140

136

132

130

141

ParaguayAsunción, Paraguay

143

143

144

144

144

144

143

142

MexicoMonterrey, Mexico

131

122

103

115

102

96

38

143

South AfricaJohannesburg, South Africa

140

136

117

116

126

133

144

-

ZimbabweHarare, Zimbabwe

143

134

140

143

26

(survey does not include Harare anymore because of severe economic crisis in Zimbabwe)

Three most expensive cities by region (as of July 2009)

North America

Rank

City

Ranking

1

United StatesNew York City

8

2

United StatesLos Angeles

23

3

United StatesWhite Plains

31

Latin America

Rank

City

Ranking

1

VenezuelaCaracas

15

2

Puerto RicoSan Juan

71

3

BrazilSão Paulo

72

Europe

Rank

City

Ranking

1

RussiaMoscow

3

2

SwitzerlandGeneva

4

3

SwitzerlandZürich

6

Western Asia

Rank

City

Ranking

1

IsraelTel Aviv

17

2

United Arab EmiratesDubai

20

3

United Arab EmiratesAbu Dhabi

26

Northern Africa

Rank

City

Ranking

1

AlgeriaAlgiers

40

2

EgyptCairo

57

3

MoroccoCasablanca

80

Sub-Saharan Africa

Rank

City

Ranking

1

CameroonDouala

27

2

NigeriaLagos

32

3

Côte d'IvoireAbidjan

34

East Asia

Rank

City

Ranking

1

JapanTokyo

1

2

JapanOsaka

2

3

Hong KongHong Kong

5

South-East Asia

Rank

City

Ranking

1

SingaporeSingapore

10

2

VietnamHanoi

58

3

VietnamHo Chi Minh City

69

South Asia

Rank

City

Ranking

1

IndiaNew Delhi

65

2

IndiaMumbai

67

3

BangladeshDhaka

110

Oceania

Rank

City

Ranking

1

AustraliaSydney

66

2

AustraliaMelbourne

92

3

AustraliaBrisbane

116

[1]

Economist Intelligence Unit surveys

The top 50 expensive cities according to surveys of 130 cities released in January 2005, 2006 and 2007 by The Economist Group[2]. The price of housing, generally the largest cost of living, is not included as this tends to be provided by the company and does not factor in adjusting the salary of the expatriate employee.

2007 ↓

Index[3] ↓

City ↓

2006 ↓

2005 ↓

1

132

NorwayOslo, Norway

1

3

2

130

FranceParis, France

4

4

3

126

DenmarkCopenhagen, Denmark

6

5

4

125

United KingdomLondon, United Kingdom

7

6

5

124

JapanTokyo, Japan

2

1

6

118

JapanOsaka, Japan

4

2

6

118

IcelandReykjavik, Iceland

3

8

6

118

SwitzerlandZürich, Switzerland

8

6

9

116

GermanyFrankfurt, Germany

12

9

116

FinlandHelsinki, Finland

10

10

11

115

South KoreaSeoul, South Korea

13

12

112

SwitzerlandGeneva, Switzerland

9

8

12

112

AustriaVienna, Austria

11

14

108

ItalyMilan, Italy

16

14

108

SingaporeSingapore, Singapore

24

16

107

Hong KongHong Kong

14

16

107

GermanyMunich, Germany

14

18

106

GermanyBerlin, Germany

19

18

106

AustraliaSydney, Australia

16

20

104

BelgiumBrussels, Belgium

21

20

104

Republic of IrelandDublin, Ireland

16

21

20

104

New CaledoniaNouméa, New Caledonia

n/a

20

104

SwedenStockholm, Sweden

21

24

103

AustraliaMelbourne, Australia

19

25

102

FranceLyon, France

24

26

101

NetherlandsAmsterdam, Netherlands

23

26

101

RussiaMoscow, Russia

29

28

100

United StatesNew York, United States

27

23

29

99

GermanyDüsseldorf, Germany

27

29

99

United KingdomManchester, United Kingdom

26

31

98

SpainBarcelona, Spain

35

31

98

ItalyRome, Italy

31

33

97

SpainMadrid, Spain

35

34

96

GermanyHamburg, Germany

32

34

96

CanadaVancouver, Canada

43

36

95

United StatesChicago, United States

35

36

95

LuxembourgLuxembourg, Luxembourg

40

36

95

CanadaMontreal, Canada

43

39

94

United StatesLos Angeles, United States

35

40

93

AustraliaPerth, Australia

35

41

92

AustraliaBrisbane, Australia

32

41

92

United StatesSan Francisco, United States

40

43

90

CanadaToronto, Canada

47

44

89

Côte d'IvoireAbidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

40

44

89

RussiaSt Petersburg, Russia

52

44

89

United StatesWashington, DC, United States

46

47

88

AustraliaAdelaide, Australia

45

47

88

United StatesHouston, United States

48

47

88

IsraelTel Aviv, Israel

52

50

87

New ZealandAuckland, New Zealand

29

51

86

New ZealandWellington, New Zealand

32

Sources

  • Vadgama's Dictionary of Interesting Facts
  • The Mercer 2009 Cost of Living Survey [4]
  • Finfacts Ireland [5]
  • BBC News article referring to the survey [6]
  • MCMXCIII News article about the survey [7]
  • CNNMoney.com article about the survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit [8]
  • The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [9]
  • Global/Worldwide Cost of Living [10]