Page 436 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

406 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

UAE is only recorded in the exchange of trade with Israel and Saudi Arabia, but
the UAE ranks first in respect of the volume of Polish exports in this area.
The number of foreign investments in the UAE is rising month by month,
mostly in the largest metropolises, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The amount of
Polish capital is also on the increase. It is allocated on highly favorable
conditions, inter alia into real estate, purchasing of which guarantees a rela-
tively quick and certain profit.
Polish Imports From the GCC Members, 2010 (bln PLN)
Saudi Arabia 636.9
Bahrain 150.3
Qatar 8.1
Kuwait 5.3
Iraq 0.0175
Iran 205.9
Oman 24.7
UAE 214.8
Based on Central Statistical Office, http://www.stat.gov.pl/gus/index_ENG_HTML.htm.

Polish entrepreneurs do not limit their expansion exclusively to the largest
countries of the Persian Gulf. “Inglot,” 85 a producer of cosmetics for women,
has already opened 21 shops in the Near East. 86 It sells its cosmetics in the
UAE (six outlets in Dubai alone, in addition to shops in Abu Dhabi and
Sharjah), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain, with two outlets in each of these
countries, and in Kuwait and Oman with one outlet in each. The company is
also present outside of the Gulf states in Lebanon.
Mr. Wojciech Inglot, the founder and president of the cosmetics company, is
very satisfied with the company’s operations in the Near East. “The region is
inhabited not only by Arabs, but also by people coming from all over the world,
mostly from the south-east Asia. In some countries, e.g. in the UAE, there are
more foreigners than there are native residents. We are planning further
87
expansion in the region: in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait,” says Wojciech Inglot.
Entry Barriers for Polish Entrepreneurs on the Example of Polish
Companies of Inglot and Can-Pack/Arab Can
Poles find it hard to establish their footing in the Arab markets, and practi-
tioners offer a number of theories explaining why it is so. Stanisław Wa sko,
88
the Vice President of Can-Pack, a manufacturer of packaging, claims that the
largest problem encountered in the Near East countries is that it is impossible

85. http://inglotcosmetics.com/.
86. http://biznes.newsweek.pl/wojciech-inglot–wladca-kolorow,79347,1,1.html.
87. http://www.ekonomia24.pl/artykul/864257.html#.
88. http://www.canpack.eu/index.php?lang¼en.