Page 34 - Aamir Rehman Gulf Capital and Islamic Finance The Rise of the New Global Players

Introduction 19

markets such as Iran have experienced full or partial
“Islamization,” these markets are generally less accessible to
global institutions as a result of regulatory constraints or
market risks.
2. The growth of Islamic finance has been—and remains
today—deeply linked to growth in GCC wealth. Although
Islamic finance also has its origins and key institutions in
other parts of the world, the most notable periods of
expansion in the Islamic finance market have been correlated
with periods of expanded prosperity in the Gulf.
3. Gulf investors are increasingly favoring Shariah-compliant
investments when such investments are available. This
trend, discussed in Chapter 7, is a central one in both the
development of Gulf markets and the evolution of the
Islamic investment industry.

Thus, while the phenomena we discuss remain fundamentally
distinct, they are intrinsically linked and should be examined with
reference to each other.

FROM DUBAI & CO. TO GULF CAPITAL AND ISLAMIC FINANCE
In 2007, I published a book with McGraw-Hill entitled Dubai & Co.:
Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States. That book is a
strategic guide for multinational companies and international organi-
zations on how to integrate the Gulf region into their global strate-
gies. The first part of Dubai & Co. discusses the GCC in the context of
the broader Middle East, addresses common misconceptions about
the region, discusses the drivers of market attractiveness in the Gulf,
and provides essential background on each GCC member state. Its
second part covers corporate strategies for doing business in the
region, commenting on each major business function: market entry,
marketing, human resources, finance, operations, and organization.
The book closes with a discussion of how to raise awareness of the
GCC at corporate head offices in order to craft winning global strate-
gies. Dubai & Co. has been sold worldwide since 2008, with its first
translation—a Chinese-language version—produced that same year.
Gulf Capital and Islamic Finance: The Rise of the New Global Players
builds on the analysis in Dubai & Co. and extends the thinking in a
number of new directions. Whereas Dubai & Co. was designed for