By Smita Krishnaswamy

EXPATRIATES have given Singapore the thumbs up in an annual survey rating regional states on their business-friendly nature.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) poll surveyed its members across the region, with 369 companies responding, including 83 in Singapore.

Singapore enjoyed the highest satisfaction rates in infrastructure and government-related factors like tax structure.

At the same time, corruption, overwhelmingly identified as a problem in other Asean countries, was not an issue among respondents here.

But for the third year in a row, housing costs and office lease costs were identified as significant concerns.

'In a way, by being such an attractive place to work, you get the corresponding negative - that you have such a high demand which raises prices,' said Singapore-based AmCham chairman Steven Okun.

Singapore also scored well on the more intangible area of satisfaction.

Almost all respondents said that expatriates are satisfied with their postings here, with 92 per cent going as far as to say that expatriates try to extend their local assignments.

There is more confidence here as well, with 19 per cent of the Singapore respondents expecting an increase in the expatriate workforce this year, the highest percentage across the region.

Overall, respondents in the region remain lukewarm about the prospects of workforce headcounts increasing.

Most Singapore respondents expect the world economy to perform worse this year than it did last year, in line with the general regional sentiment.

Expectations for profit growth are also not high, although respondents are optimistic about seeing a rebound next year.

The survey, now in its eighth year, also highlighted the significance of the Asean market to American companies in Singapore.

For the fourth consecutive year, most Singapore respondents expected the regional market to increase in importance for their companies' operations and revenues over the next two years.

Vietnam was the most popular target country for expansion among Asean respondents, followed by Indonesia.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.