Page 53 - Aamir Rehman - Dubai & Co Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States-McGraw-Hill (2007)

CHAPTER 2

Think Again: Addressing

Misconceptions about the GCC

INTRODUCTION
Although GCC countries appear more frequently in the global
media and business press today than ever before, misconceptions
about the region persist. It’s fair to say that many global business
leaders nowadays have no formal training pertaining to the GCC;
the region has become highly relevant to global business only in
recent decades. These leaders rarely have direct contact with Gulf-
based individuals or institutions. Therefore, they rely on coverage
in the news and entertainment media that is often anecdotal, rarely
analytical, and usually not focused on business opportunities.
Perpetuating these misconceptions is bad for business.
Without a more fact-based understanding of the region, global busi-
ness leaders are likely to misinterpret the opportunities—and
risks—that exist there. They may miss out on large areas of oppor-
tunity, such as marketing to the large and growing pool of univer-
sity-educated women in the GCC with high disposable incomes
and discerning consumer tastes. They may misallocate resources
based on false assumptions about the region’s markets, relying, for
example, on Arabic-language promotions alone when the bulk of

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