Business with a Middle Eastern accent

Westchester County Business Journal, May 5, 2008 by Gordon, Jim

From Bedford to Bronxville ... to Bahrain?

Possibilities abound in the fertile business crescent of North Africa and the Middle East, according to experts addressing a symposium on doing business in the Middle East held at SUNY Now Paltz April 26 and hosted by the college and by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Export Assistance Center in White Plains, and the Council of Industry of Southeastern New York.

"The Middle East offers a lot of opportunities for U.S. exporters, but to generate sustained success it's important to learn the culture, how business is done, and how to avoid potential pitfalls," said Michael W. Grossman, an international trade specialist for the Commerce Department, with an office in White Plains that he said, "Offers a lot of resources," to help make business ventures successful.

"There are opportunities and challenges," said Abdul Quader Shaikh, a senior international economist at the Commerce Department and a specialist in what he called MENA, the Middle East and North Africa. Among the most tantalizing reasons to seek business relations in the region he said, is that as a whole the area is "Flush with liquidity."

There are about 320 million people in the 20 countries in the region, though trade is illegal with Iran and the Sudan, leaving 18 countries ranging in size from Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, to Egypt.

But one would have to look past the headlines to see other important factors that make business in the MENA area viable and potentially lucrative. For example, while Arabic is the dominant language in the region, "Most countries have English as their business language, an added advantage for Americans to do business there," said Shaikh. He said European and Asian business interests are seeking to develop business partnerships in the area.

Besides language, he said, American businesses enjoy another advantage. "One thing is striking: The majority of people in the Middle East are below 30 years of age and these people are very much in tune with what goes on in United States," he said. "They use Internet cafes and drink Starbucks coffee and eat Dunkin Donuts.

"They have affinity for American culture. Many of their parents were trained (in universities) here. They would love to continue the tradition of interaction with us."

The fields of commerce that can be exploited are wide ranging. The city of Dubai, for example, "Is becoming a major trade hub, like Hong Kong used to be," said Shaikh, who added that there is so much wealth in the city a person can go indoor skiing during the region's summer, when temperatures outdoors can reach well over 100 degrees.

Opportunities for U.S. companies exist in defense, I.T. software, health, aircraft, machinery and other ventures. "You name it, they are looking for a lot of products and services to buy," said Shaikh. That includes an obvious opportunity, he said. "Homeland security is an international need now, so every country is looking for security help."

Education is a vibrant field of exchange, he said, but in the post-9/11 world visas are rare for studentsfrom the Arab world, thus American universities have opened collaborative campus facilities in the Mid-East. Cornell University, for example, has opened an affiliated medical center in Dubai.

Customs and mores are different than in the United States, and Shaikh said that some basic research about one's preferred markets and countries could improve chances for a successful venture, or even ensure a venture simply gets off to a good start. Concerns as simple the differing distance in personal space that is considered polite in the region to the legal requirements such as export documents required in what circumstances or countries are all matters that the commercial service can help provide insight on.

For more information: www.export. gov, or call (914) 682-6712.