Data suggests friendliness and ease of settlement make the country a highly attractive place to live and work.
Expats all around the world have spoken. At least, they’ve spoken to InterNations, an international social organization that connects expats. According to a press release, the organization has finished compiling their flagship survey, "Expat Insider," which polled nearly 13,000 respondents from 188 countries and territories for their opinions on various countries around the globe. According to the unpublished survey, Vietnam came in 9th among the friendliest countries in the world for foreign nationals living abroad, an improvement from last year, when it ranked 12th.
Expats living in Vietnam reported that they didn't have a hard time finding friends and that it wasn’t too difficult to make the move to the country. About 81% of those surveyed describe Vietnam as "welcoming" and 73% also think that it's easy to settle down in the country. “I love the friendly vibe in the city,” a South Korean expat told the organization about life in Saigon. “people are mostly nice and gentle.”
When asked about the duration of their stay, however, only 16% of respondents think that they are "likely to stay forever." Nonetheless, the majority of expats in Vietnam (51%) plan to stay for at most five years, which is well above the global average of 35%.
Portugal surpassed Taiwan to claim the top spot of most welcoming nation this year, while Cambodia made a surprising leap from No. 24 to No. 4.
[Photo via Thanh Nien]
