Doing business in the Arab States
14 November 2007
West Country firms keen to capitalise on lucrative markets in the fast developing Arab States seized on the opportunity this week to participate in an Arabic language taster session and industry briefing of the dos and don’ts of trading in the region.
from left to right:
Susan Roe, RLN SW West of England
Nigel Crowe, UK Trade & Investment
Abdeslam El-Idrissi, Arab-British Chamber of Commerce
Dr Peter Gold, RLN SW West of England
The event, organised by the Regional Language Network South West at the University of the West of England in Bristol, provided different perspectives on language and business culture in the Arab world through the experience of leading industry experts including Abdeslam El-Idrissi of the Arab- British Chamber of Commerce and Neil Payne of Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions
The Arab States region is home to over 330 million people living in 22 countries that stretch from Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria in the west to Yemen and Oman in the east which equates to 5% of the world’s population. The combined economies surpass 1 trillion US dollars and are growing by 5% annually.
Dr Peter Gold, RLN SW’s West of England director said: “More and more businesses are interested in the Arab States markets. Any firm embarking on export sales to the region needs to have a really good understanding of the language and business culture so as to capitalise on opportunities. Taking the trouble to learn a few meet and greet words can make a significant difference to business encounters, developing relationships and concluding successful negotiations.”
Abdeslam El-Idrissi, Arab-British Chamber of Commerce director of trade services said: “I was pleased to be able to offer an overview of the market and top tips for doing business in the Arab States. Language and culture go hand in hand and businesses need to be encouraged. A few words of Arabic can open doors.”
Ian Greaves from IGI Safety, Hygiene and Environmental Protection Services based in Cheltenham, is shortly visiting Dubai on a sales visit. “The workshop was exactly what I wanted and a lot of my questions are now answered. I feel a lot more confident from a language and culture perspective to do business. The event and advice from the RLN SW has been really useful.”
The “Doing Business in the Arab States” workshop heralds a trade mission to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar in January organised by UKTI.
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