A quality of life survey by NatWest says that the UAE is one of the best places to live.
The NatWest table placed the UAE at sixth place compared to tenth place five years ago and the word is that Dubai’s property market is picking up after a dodgy period when all construction ground to a halt.
The UAE is one of those few places where foreign workers still commonly receive full expatriate packages. Salaries are tax free and for shipmanagement and chartering staff they not far behind those in Europe, the US and Singapore. It’s a surprising number of jobseekers then that withdraw from applications to Dubai and the other Emirates on salary grounds. The cost of living isn’t the cheapest but no worse than many cities. With housing paid for, no tax to pay and the house at home producing a rental income, yours truly often wonders why this is the case? Is it greed? Is the reputation such that expectations of the Middle East are unrealistic? What do you think? [email protected]
If you missed Spinnaker’s report on Dubai and Singapore expat housing allowances, search the newsletter section on shippingjobs.com or drop us a line ([email protected]) and we’ll send you a summary.
