Page 280 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

262 Dubai & Co.

by standard guidelines for administrative staff such as 15-minute
coffee breaks. At the same time, PROs can be fantastic sources
of information about the business community, and of other relevant
information, gotten from the local rumor mill. The PRO, for exam-
ple, is likely to know more about the inner workings of public-sec-
tor decision-making processes than expatriates who are far more
senior. On internal matters, their job security makes them freer
to speak up than most others. If you want an honest opinion about
the state of the company, ask the PRO. He will rarely pull punches,
as he has relatively little to lose.
The World Bank–IFC, through its “Doing Business” indicators,
has tracked the number of procedures required to start businesses
in countries around the world. Findings from several GCC markets,
published in 2006, are summarized in Table 9.3. 34

TABLE 9.3

Procedures for Setting up Shop in the GCC States

Procedures Duration
Country (number) (days) Cost in US$
Saudi Arabia 13 39 $6,900
Kuwait 13 35 $400
UAE 12 63 $8,700
Oman 9 34 $400

Saudi Arabia, consistent with its reputation for onerous
bureaucracy, was at the top of the list with the most procedures. The
UAE, despite its general, open-for-business policies, required the
longest amount of time to establish a company and had the highest
associated fees. In none of the GCC countries surveyed was the time
required to start a business less than one month. Such obstacles can
dampen the spirit of entrepreneurship and market entry. By con-
trast, the time it takes to open a business in the United States is only
5 days; in the UK it is 18.
It is important to note, however, that the above figures are
based on regular, onshore company registrations as opposed to
those in free zones. Free zones offer, as discussed earlier, far more