Doing business in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates has been one of the major success stories of the world in recent years. Long wealthy because of their oil they have made a serious effort to branch out into other areas and diversify their economy and they have succeeded spectacularly. There is now massive foreign investment in the country and a great deal of it is in areas other than petroleum. In fact that major challenge to doing business in the Emirates these days is the amount of competition that you will face. Abu Dhabi is becoming a very popular

The United Arab Emirates is actually a group of seven small states that have all combined together to operate as one county. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In large part this is because of the oil that they possess this is where the wealth comes from. However the government has realized that he oil won't last forever and has made a serious effort to diversify the economy. In large part they have succeeded and there are now companies from all over the world doing business in the Emirates.

The main business besides oil that is being conducted in the Emirates is construction; there is a massive construction boom. In large part this is to improve the infrastructure but a big chunk of it is for the tourism sector. This is an area that the government has targeted as a way to diversify the economy and there has been a massive increase in tourism to the Emirates. There have also been large increases in the financial services and shipping sectors. The goal is for the Emirates to become the business center of the region and they are well on their way to achieving this.

One of the reasons for the success of the Emirates is that they have very liberal regulation when it comes to starting and running a business. There few restrictions on foreign ownership and foreign companies operate under the same rules as local companies. There are also very low taxes, most industries operate tax free although there are taxes on some industries, and this obviously helps to encourage business. One major advantage that the Emirates have over its neighbors is that they are used to the way western business operates. For the most part when foreign companies set up shop in the Emirates it is no different than operating at home.

The biggest challenge that you are likely to face doing business in the Emirates is the competition. With all the companies setting up in the Emirates it has become very competitive and a lot of companies will be unsuccessful. The other issue that you will face is that the lax regulation that attracts so many companies also means that there is limited legal protection. There is also the issue that if you do have to go to court the legal system in the Emirates is very complex and moves very slowly.