Panama’s a small country, with a population of about 3.5 million, so they don’t have a big talent pool to draw on. Making it even more surprising that they can at least a dozen major league teams.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a playoff game between Los Santos and Herrera. In Las Tablas, where I’m living now, Los Santos is the home team.

It was a fun evening, and a great value for live sports entertainment.

Now, I have to be honest. I’m not a sports enthusiast.

Before this game, the last live sporting event I attended was in 1995 or thereabouts. Our older daughter was in marching band in high school, and during her senior year they did a half-time thing with band parents during a football game. So we showed up for our command performance to support the band and our daughter.

Back to the recent ball game. . .

Las Tablas has its own stadium, which was bursting at the seams during this game. Panama City has a spectacular new stadium, which sadly is never full, but the Los Santos supporters always make a good showing.

Along with my expat neighbors, I had a seat in the front row behind home plate. Cost? A whopping $5.

Here’s a little video I shot of the stadium just as the game was starting.

The evening was enlivened by the antics of a local businessman. Jim owns a sports bar/restaurant called Ponchalos (“Ponchalo” means “strike out”).

Jim, an expat from the Boston area, goes to the games in face paint, a bushy orange wig (orange is Los Santos’ color) and an orange Ponchalos t-shirt. When the opposing team has two strikes, Jim whips into action.

Holding up a sign, he stands in front of the crowd yelling “Ponchalo! Ponchalo!”

Soon they’re chanting with him.

Jim believes It’s good promotion for his business. He’s capitalizing on the Panamanians’ love of baseball in his marketing.

And he gets lots of attention. Recently he was asked to throw the first pitch, an honor usually reserved for visiting dignitaries.

Ponchalos serves American-style food: hamburgers, fries, chicken wings, chili dogs, and pizza are on the menu.

Expats, no matter how willing they are to integrate into the local community, still hunger for the familiar comfort foods of home, and Jim’s trying to supply that need. He’s a good example of an expat seeing a need, finding a niche, and building a business around it.

Another US expat came to Las Tablas to retire. But when local friends found out about his background as an electrician, they started begging him to work on their properties. He keeps as busy as he wants — maybe a little too busy, in fact, and he never looks for work.

There are lots of needs that could be filled here. I’ve spotted several (all food related. . . hmmm. . .).

For example, there’s no coffee shop in town. I’d love to have a place where I could go for a good cup of coffee and conversation.

Fresh vegetables here are a bit of a challenge. I think someone could do well offering a weekly service to bring in fresh, organic produce. And if they could find a way to supply some kind of lettuce besides iceburg, I’d pay a premium for it!

Or how about peanut butter — the real stuff, not the kind that’s full of added sugar and hydrogenated oils which are so unhealthy.

Here’s an idea that’s not food related — my husband, who’s an avid bicyclist, is considering putting together some bicycle tours.

Lots of expats open hostels, B&Bs, hotels, bars and restaurants. But if you’re thinking about starting a bricks and mortar business here, there’s lots of expertise that’s needed.

While not the portable careers I usually write about, there’s lots of room here for entrepreneurs to start all sorts of profitable businesses.

photo courtesy of Ponchalos.com

While this information won’t determine where in the world you’ll be happiest as an expat, it can help you figure out where to start looking.

Why? In the wake of what they are calling the Great Recession, Latin American and Asian economies are recovering much faster and more strongly than cities in the US and Europe. If you need to support yourself overseas, high-growth cities offer the best chances of building a successful business or teaching career.

“. . . from 2009 to 2010 . . . of the top 30 ranked metros in this period, a diverse group of 29 was located outside the United States and Europe. China and India alone accounted for 10, Latin America registered seven, and the Middle East and North Africa recorded four. Most of these metros posted annual growth rates of at least 2.5 percent in employment, and five percent in income. . .”

What Does this Mean for Expats?

Keep in mind that these rankings are based on increases in income and employment, not raw numbers. Lima, Peru was the Latin American powerhouse during the recovery period from 2009-2010, but per-capita income is still pretty low.

Metro Areas Where You Could Grow a Business

If you want to set yourself up in business in another country, you should look to the areas that saw fast recovery and good growth.

Here’s a list of the metro areas that suffered the least during the recession and have fully recovered (in alphabetical order):

• Alexandria, Egypt
• Bangalore, India
• Bangkok, Thailand
• Beijing, China
• Belo Horizonte, Brazil
• Bogota, Colombia
• Brasilia, Brazil
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Cairo, Egypt
• Chennai, India
• Guangzhou, China
• Hong Kong, China
• Hyderabad, India
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Kolkata, India
• Krakow, Poland
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Lima, Peru
• Manila, Philippines
• Melbourne, Australia
• Mumbai, India
• New Delhi, India
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• San Antonio, TX USA
• Santiago, Chile
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Seoul, Korea
• Shanghai, China
• Shenzhen, China
• Sydney, Australia
• Taipei, Taiwan
• Tianjin, China
• Warsaw, Poland

Notice there’s only one US city — San Antonio, TX — on the list, and one from Europe — Warsaw, Poland.

These cities have made a partial recovery

• Bratislava, Slovakia
• Guadalajara, Mexico
• Istanbul, Turkey
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Monterrey, Mexico
• Montreal, Canada
• Moscow, Russia
• Nagoya, Japan
• Osaka, Japan
• Singapore
• Tokyo, Japan
• Toronto, Canada

Also included in this list are the US cities of Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; Minneapolis, MN; Nashville, TN; Phoenix, AZ; Providence, RI; St. Louis, MO; San Diego, CA; and San Jose, CA.

Top ten metro growth areas during 2009-2010

1. Istanbul, Turkey
2. Shenzhen, China
3. Lima, Peru
4. Singapore, Singapore
5. Santiago, Chile
6. Shanghai, China
7. Guangzhou, China
8. Beijing, China
9. Manila, Philippines
10. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Teaching English as a Second Language

I don’t think it’s coincidence that many of the cities which show strong income and employment growth are the same places where demand for English teachers is high. If you’re interested in teaching and you want a position where you can actually sock money away, China and Korea are your best bets. You can also find good teaching jobs in other Asian countries.

Plenty of Chinese cities made the top 30 list. Seoul, Korea is not far behind, at #33 and Bangkok, Thailand is at #35.

You can find the entire report here, and summaries and discussion here.

Want to discuss these reports? Join Future Expats on Facebook!

Guest Post by Steenie Harvey, International Living

There’s more to sunny southern France than Provence and the Cote d’Azur. One of its most beautiful, historic and unspoiled regions is the Midi-Pyrenees—and it’s here that American David Hatfield and his English wife Linda have made their home for the past six years.

Along with a poodle called Rupert, they live in a gorgeous farmhouse on three acres near the village of Parisot in the Tarn-et-Garonne departement. A boulangerie, shops, and a good restaurant within walking distance…there’s a lake with summer boating and canoeing…fabulous views of the wooded countryside…lots of marked hiking trails. Heaven.

The large farmhouse (with swimming pool and landscaped gardens) was already renovated when David and Linda purchased, but they’ve done some extensive remodeling. Part of it is run as a gîte (self-catering accommodation) which rents for an equivalent $1,500 weekly during high season (July-August). Their summer take up last year amounted to nine weeks of bookings. Not bad, considering the recession.

A keen cook, 72-year-old David “unashamedly loves France.” (Take a look at his blog about food and rural life.) Originally from Northern California’s wine country, with a career in the military and then electronics, David has been smitten with the country since the early 1960s.

Over a cup of tea, I ask David what it is about this part of France that would surprise and attract Americans.

“I think the first surprise would be the tranquility,” he says. “It is very peaceful, but not isolated or backward. There’s plenty of life going on, we’re less than an hour from the cities of Albi, Cahors, Montauban and Rodez; and just over an hour from Toulouse so everything modern is available. But it is quiet and peaceful, life proceeds at its own pace, and there always seems to be time for a chat or a coffee or a glass of wine. It just seems that the hectic and frenzied pace of so much modern life is missing.

“A second surprise would be the sheer beauty of the countryside. It’s not dramatic, but it’s wonderful and very varied. One goes from gorges, to vineyards, to rolling hills, to rivers, to medieval villages…to oak and chestnut forests and to cities all within a short drive along deserted roads.

“And the natives are friendly! Most Americans have a concept of rude abrupt Frenchmen. It’s just not true. It is to a certain extent true of Parisians, but I think all big city dwellers tend to be a bit rude and abrupt whatever their nationality.

“Here the local people are curious about strangers, eager to talk about the area and its history. In other words, just plain friendly. For most Americans language can be a barrier, but it’s easily broken with a modicum of French and a modicum of English on the locals’ part. Everyone has a good laugh together even if the language isn’t working too well.”

When I last spoke with David and Linda, they were thinking of downsizing, and the farmhouse and gîte business was on the market for 695,000 euro ($1 million), agency fees included. Big money, but a fabulous property—their personal dining room alone is over 700 square feet.