Boomhauer

Oh you don't say Mr Forbes....

Ok so any such survey should not be taken too seriously but at the same time no reason to completely dismiss it either. All in all Canada & US being up there for friendliest and UAE being least, does make the survey believable.

The expats who took part are probably mostly English speakers or know enough English to get by so that would skew the results, and English being world lingua franca will again favour Anglo countries .

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgree...t-countries-2/

seven seas

If that means the country where you're least likely to make friends with the citizens, then that's not news.

I'm guessing Japan is pretty high on that list.

OleJanx

Was this survey based on expats buying property, or just working in a place?
If working only, then I would have thought the Magic Kingdom would have appeared in last place.

flood2

I think I read that a lot of filipinos were involved in that...(or was that another survey where the UAE came last?)

I have been here 9 months and my only real interaction with the locals is when the race up my arse in their Patrols and flash for me to get out their way. It is a very strange place.

Still a bit surprised it finished behind KSA as I thought it would be worse. Maybe the filipino slaves(sorry maids) in KSA are a bit happier?

OleJanx

More likely the Filipino's in the Magic Kingdom don't have access to the internet...

Bahtatboy

Bollocks. Not only are the vast majority Anglophiles, they're friendly and interested in other cultures.

maudawia

Arrogance and mocking the other recipe closely much of the UAE nationals who belittle the roles carried out by coming to this country and they are unable to do.

mentalist

Unable to find the complete list within the article but noticed from the picture gallery section that France was ranked 15th overall and yet "...France claimed the No. 1 spot in the raising children abroad category, France impressed with its relatively low childcare costs and healthier children’s lifestyles. Plus, a vast majority has tried to learn or use French (93%), enjoyed the local food (71%) and felt welcome at work (89%)...", so why only 15th I wonder.

scrubbedexpat141

Because it's full of French people.

scrubbedexpat141

Am I misreading this paragraph from the article - it seems to say UAE and India are both last, or by skim reading the whole thing have I missed something about it being two surveys reported together?

"The least friendly country for expats, according to the Forbes formula, was the United Arab Emirates. And among the countries most challenging for expats overall were Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Russia and India, according to this year’s HSBC survey results. India ranked in last place for the second year in a row."

scrubbedexpat141

But then it goes on to say that;

"The HSBC survey’s top three overall scorers—Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates—didn’t fare so well in categories relating to community integration and befriending locals. What did impress expats living in each of these countries, however, were improved career prospects and high incomes."

Yet the UAE ended in 'last' place?

The article reads like shit.

mentalist

It seems that 'being friendly' was just one of several categories. The UAE only appears to have come bottom in that single category but it would certainly help if they took the time and effort to print the ruddy lists so we can see for ourselves.

Boomhauer

Least friendly ---UAE
Most challenging ----India
Earning potential----UAE,Hong Kong & Singapore

3 different categories. So while living in UAE is easier/less stressfull than India, the locals in India are friendlier.

As for earning potential, the UAE along with SG & HK comes tops but it doesn't change the fact that it is the least friendliest place to live.

Meow

Utopia doesn't exist shocker!

Miss Anne Thrope

The Forbes article is a dreadfully weak analysis of an extraordinarily arbitrary and poorly constructed HSBC (imagine that) survey with highly dubious methodology (online surveys are notoriously unreliable) and utterly useless output that seems to have received an inordinate amount of unjustified publicity.

Well done all around I'd say!