Talk with Jordan ft. Ines Shaim — Doing Business in the UAE…and Israel!

5 Do’s and Don’t for the UAE

Welcome to a special High-tech on the Low blog post. I’m very excited to present our guest today — Ines Shaim, our first ever guest from the UAE. Naturally, we’re going to talk about doing business in the Emirates — dos, don’ts and the UAE business culture.

Ines, Welcome! Please, share a little about yourself.

Hi Jordan! I’m a Business Development Manager at Hamdan Al Shamsi Lawyers & Legal Consultants — a law firm in Dubai. After I finished my law degree I wanted something different and challenging, and 6 years ago I ended up here in the UAE. At some point I shifted my focus from law to business but still in the legal field.

How does that work?

I don’t look for people who break the law. We are people who try to fix a problem or problems. People need to enforce a will, send their company through liquidation — we’re here to help them with that problem.

You also have a start-up hub

The UAE has many attractive incubators and accelerators. We see a lot of young people coming in with good ideas and don’t know the eco system and their way around. Now with the Abraham Accords, we know Israel is a big start-up hub, and we had talks with Israelis and we hope that we can help them get started properly.

How westernized is the UAE? How similar is the business culture

We need to go back to basics — the UAE is 50 years old, 70% of the population are expats and this created a very tolerant and accepting culture with a major western influence and the business culture stemmed from that. For example — part of the meeting will be very western, very formal, the other will have “Arabic touches”.

How do you introduce yourself?

Greeting are a little different in every industry, but by rule of thumb introduce yourself and if you can form your introduction around the other person’s interests. On one hand they need to know who they are talking to, but it needs to be focused. From your introduction. try to find where you fit into the person’s environment or world.

How is it acceptable to reach out?

It all depends on your seniority level — a CEO will find it easier than a junior or mid-level manager. LinkedIn is a great way to start, especially because it mirrors mutual connections and serves as a referral list. I wouldn’t advise cold calls, they are considered a little amateur while the referral system acts as basic due diligence. Its all about building trust.

How do you build that trust?

You want to be honest, transparent and consistent — promise something you can deliver. If I meet you for the fist time I want to see a good track record, but mainly — don’t under perform. The market is very competitive so people work with people they like. Build trust on the human side, not only the business level.

How do you act in a meeting?

Precovid, you should wear formal attire; we usually shake hands, but some don’t. As a man you must wait to see if a woman extends her hand, if she doesn’t don’t extend yours. Local men will usually wear the traditional Kandora, and for women it is optional: either to wear traditional attire or a business outfit — nothing too revealing nothing too flashy.

Don’t wear jeans and sneakers or offer to meet in a coffee shop and I would also advise avoiding flashy make-up. You need to look smart and professional. First impressions are very important, and you want to wear smart attire to honor and respect your counterpart.

Is there any time of year that business is off?

Naturally business slows down during the Ramadan. Most people are fasting, some go home, night life is closed, restaurants are closed during the day, so this would not be the best time for you to come. Its best to come during September or now, during the beginning of the new year. The worst time to do business is during Christmas and the Ramadan. This is usually when companies analyze and reflect on their performance and plan or correct strategies. Don’t get me wrong, business continues, but most people are on holiday, and we work 6 hours a day and not 9 or 10 as usual — everything is in slow motion.

So, to summarize:

We’re very excited in the UAE to do business with Israel and Israelis. If you have a good idea, and you pitch it properly and you follow the local code of conduct, you have a good chance of succeeding here. Remember, reputation travels fast here, so you want to find good agents or partners that know their way around and how things work in the UAE market.

I want to echo your sentiments about the excitement, I know that everyone is very excited here, and thank you for being on the show.

I want to wish everyone good luck, and thank you for having me.

To learn more about best practices for working with the UAE, listen to my podcast “Talk with Jordan ft. Ines Shaim — Doing Business in the UAE…and Israel!”

Jordan Kastrinsky — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-kastrinsky-9b8b2370/

INES SHAIM— https://www.linkedin.com/in/filippochisari/

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