Page 39 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

Lines in the Sand: The GCC in the Broader Middle East 25

international investment pending political reform and a shift in
global sentiment.
Lebanon is a unique state in the Levant and plays a pivotal role
in the broader MENA region. With its temperate climate and
Mediterranean atmosphere, Lebanon has long been a popular
tourist and business destination for the Arab world. Lebanon was a
strong banking and financial center as well—especially in the 1960s
and 1970s—before the outbreak of a devastating civil war, which
lasted from 1975 to 1991 and was an extremely complex conflict
among numerous religious and secular factions. Although it signif-
icantly rebuilt its infrastructure during the 1990s, Lebanon still is
undergoing reconstruction efforts to return the country to its previ-
ous strength. Lebanon is religiously diverse—about 60 percent
Muslim (of various sects) and 40 percent Christian—and its consti-
tution has built-in mechanisms to ensure the representation of var-
6
ious religious communities. Lebanon, with its social liberalism, has
thriving nightlife and beaches, and it is also a source of much Arab
popular culture—especially food, music, and music videos. While
its domestic population (about 4 million) is limited, Lebanon has
been a trade center for centuries, and Lebanese entrepreneurship is
renowned within the MENA region. Many ethnic Lebanese live
abroad, and the Lebanese often speak English and French in addi-
tion to Arabic. Many of Lebanon’s most talented nationals work in
the GCC, where openings at burgeoning businesses provide them
with greater opportunities to apply their skills. The 2006 war
between Hezbollah and Israel caused significant damage to
7
Lebanon’s infrastructure (estimated at $3.6 billion) and devastated
the tourist season, but in the long term, Lebanon is expected to
recover strongly and to continue to be a prime tourist destination,
especially in the summer months that make the Gulf’s heat almost
unbearable. Jordan, a monarchy that seeks to play a conciliatory
role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has a population of around 6
million. The kingdom, whose ruling family traces its roots to the
clan of the Prophet Muhammad, has many cultural, familial, and
social ties to the Palestinian people. Jordan is an importer of many
natural resources, including oil (for which it relies on trade with the
Gulf), but it is fast developing its services sector, including Arabic-
speaking call centers and business process outsourcing (BPO)
providers. Jordanians’ level of education, neutral Arabic dialect,