Working in a foreign country

Unit 1

Being an economist

1. Reading. Read the article and find the following:

1. Carlos Ghosn’s nationality Brazilian.

2. Two companies that he works for _______.

3. A city in Asia _________.

4. Three European cities ________.

5. A country in Asia __________.

New words from the article:

Working in a foreign country

Today more and more people travel in their job. Carlos Ghosn is a Brazilian businessman and he travels to different countries for his work. He is the head of the French car company Renault, and he spends 40 per cent of his time in Paris. He is also the head of Nissan, and he spends 35 per cent of his time in Asia, in Tokyo. He spends 25 % of his time in other countries, such as the USA.

Some employees travel to different countries to work on projects. They are in the country until the project ends and then they return home. For example, many IT engineers live in India but work on projects in the USA. Other people live in a country but go to work every day to a different country. In Europe, workers regularly commute between Brussels, London and Paris. Plane tickets are not expensive and travel between the cities is easy with a European passport.

But is the increase in business travel a good thing? It is interesting for employees to meet different nationalities. It is also good for business to have contacts in different countries around the world. But there are also problems. Some employees spend a lot of time away from their home country and it is not easy for governments to decide exactly where workers should pay tax.

2. Read the article again. Are these statements true or false?

1. Carlos Ghosn is the head of BMW. It is false. He is the head of Renault company.

2. He travels between Asia, Europe and the USA.

3. Some workers travel to different countries to work on projects.

4. Indian software engineers work on projects in the UK.

5. It is difficult to travel between European cities.

6. It is interesting to meet people from different countries.

7. Contacts in different countries are good for business.

8. It is difficult to know what country to pay tax in.

3. Speaking. Do you like the idea of working in a different country as part of your job? What countries do you think are interesting to work in?