1. I am fairly impressed with the book. While it does include good information clarifying The different areas of the Middle East and how each differs from the others, all too often it sounds like marketing fluff. Issues such as terrorism and human rights violations, though acknowledged, are often countered with reminders of how large a consumer base is just waiting for international companies.
   Rating: 3 / 5

2. Excellent and Well Researched. The book is a very good at listing why to do business in Dubai and how to go about it from the standpoint of a Large Multi National Company. Personally though I was looking for more of a guide to working in Dubai on an individual basis as either a company owner or employee. The book however was full of information, it almost requires a reread to absorb it all.
   Rating: 4 / 5

3. This book provides valuable background information on the GCC region, arguments for why it is and will remain an attractive place for doing business, with an interesting historical backdrop. Despite recent financial turmoil, I remain firmly convinced of the promise of this region, and this book paints a convincing picture of the reasons why.
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. This book covers three areas:

   (A) Gulf Corporation Council (GCC), 37 million, new rich:

   1. United Arab Emirates (UAE), 5.5 million,

   Dubai Ports World, Emaar real estate firm, retail space 4 times bigger than the ones in US, Al Taylor luxury store, no visa is required for US, UK and EU citizens, liquor is OK, night club is booming, traffice is bad, Hawaa World (150,000 women group), e-commerce is not here yet, Al-Futtaim group, Etisalat (telecom monopoly), expats are 72%, many from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. Emirates Airline booming business, 30,000 Russians, Proctor Gamble, Carrefour, Ikea, McDonald, HSBC, halal beef (no additives or preseratives), Omnicom, WPP, Halliburton, London Business School, Wharton, Zara, Etisalat, du (telecom), the list goes on and on.

   Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) with $250- 500 bn.

   Sharjah, women leader Sheikha Lubna al-Qasimi (member of Sharjah royal family) government minister, CEO […].

   Sharia-compliant structures, comply with the Islamic law.
   
   Islamic finance, a fixed return withous risk, is unjust. No interest is paid. Investing in porn, casino, weapons, and related activities is not allowed. People cannot sell what they do not own. Short sellers do not exist. What is being bought and sold must be understood by both parties. Takaful has been developed to meets the needs of insurance products. Murabaha, cost-plus sale, one party buys the product and sells it for a profit. Ijara is leasing. Mudaraba, investors provide capital to a manager who works for a portion of the return. Musharaka, profit and loss sharing partnership. Sukuk, similar to bonds. Malaysia’s Tabung Haji was fianced by Islamic finance. There are 300 banks in the world that offer Islamic finance products, 25-30% of the world total.

   Public Relation Office, secure government approvals, etc, very important in GCC.

   Friday-Saturday or Thursday-Friday is the weekend. Friday is the religious day for people to go to the mosques.

   The British University in Dubai, and University Manchester UK, established a Masters degree in “Systems Engineering” to address the shortage of people in this field at UAE.

   2. Kuwait: Kuwait Investment Authority, Global Investment House Maha Al-Ghunaim. The goverment officials were not elected and were chosen by Emir. But the parliament members were elected by the people. Four women: Maasouma Al Mubarrak, Aseel Al Awadhi, Roha Dashti, Sawah Al Jassar, made history, becoming the first to be elected to the National Assembly of the Kuwait parliament, 6/11/2009. They all have US trained PhDs, and should make a difference in the future of Kuwait.
   
   Mobile Telecom Company (Zain) has $5 bn to buy many other telecom firms.

   3. Saudi Arabia: 25 million, Sabic $135 bn market cap, Aramco oil, holy cities Makkah and Madinah, National Commercial Bank, Samba Bank, Al Rajhi Bank, King Abdullah Economy city, Saudi Telecom Company (STC).

   4. Qatar: $45000 per capita, highest in the region, 1 million, Qatar financial center, Cornell U, CMU, Texas AM, Al-Jazeera, Q-tel, Science Tech park.

   5. Bahrain, Wall Street of GCC, 370 banks in 2006.

   6. Oman, 3 million, oil/gas, constuction, mining.

   (B) Levant region (bilad al-sham), $3500 GDP/capita
   
   1. Iraq, many lawyers, MDs, professionals.
   
   2. Israel
   
   3. Palestine
   
   4. Jordan, importer of natural resources
   
   5. Syria, 20 million, low investor confidence. Syriatel Mobile Telecom.
   
   6. Lebanon, 4 million, 60% muslim, 40% christians, Israel Herzbollah conflict, tourism is way down

   (C) Middle East North Africa (MENA region), $5000 GDP/capita:
   
   1. Egypt 80 million, Cairo used to be the commercial center, not any more due to government regulations. Orascom Telecom is doing well.
   
   2. Algeria
   
   3. Morocco
   
   4. Tunisia
   
   5. Sudan
   
   6. Libya

   The book will be better, if it gave more depth of a Dubai
   
   firm. I highly recommend this book to all.

   Rating: 4 / 5

5. [Translated from an Arabic version of this review]

   I began reading Dubai and Co shortly after I finished Christopher Davidsons’s work entitled “Dubai: The Vulnerability of Success”. I also have some background in Dubai as I resided there in 2005. Ever since that time, I have been interested in Dubai, especially its infrastructure, government and economy. Still, information on these subjects remains sparse save the ubiquitous wire article about the latest tower being completed in the Emirate. So, Rehman seems to be in the right place at the right time to talk about this booming city state.

   When I began reading the book I was surprised at the simple but clear nature of the author and the useful information contained. For example the comparison between differing regions in the gulf was especially enlightening, and the explanation of differing levels of engagement was also useful.

   However, after these subjects, the author starts to focus on business strategies in the gulf and what should be his strong point becomes his weakest. First, he begins to repeat his ideas about halfway through the book. For example, I read numerous times about how KSA forms the core of the gulf market, a statement repeated nearly verbatim with no new analysis. Worse, I found an entire page figure devoted to the same point in the second to the last chapter of the book- something that should have been included earlier or edited out. Even though the book is longer than 300 pages, the analysis becomes surface level. Rehman’s most detailed example was about the move of Halliburton to Dubai, but even it only spanned 2 pages. So, much of the book becomes useless platitudes. In the end, this book seems appropriate for the clueless manager on his first flight to Dubai, but does not merit anything more than a skim by those who already have a background in the area.
   Rating: 3 / 5

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.