The document discusses opportunities for Scottish companies in Dubai. It provides an overview of Dubai's economy and trade relationship with the UK. Major projects in Dubai like Expo 2020 are highlighted as opportunities. The document then discusses various options for doing business in Dubai, including using agents/distributors, establishing a representative office, forming a limited liability company or joint venture, and operating within a free trade zone. Key issues like having a Middle East strategy and taking legal advice are also emphasized. Overall, the document aims to outline the business landscape in Dubai and options for Scottish companies to engage in the lucrative market.

1. www.sdi.co.uk
Doing Business in Dubai’ Event with Government of Dubai, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Smart Exporter‘Doing Business in Dubai’ Event with Government of Dubai, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Smart Exporter‘Doing Business in Dubai’ Event with Government of Dubai, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and Smart Exporter
Doing Business in Dubai
With
The Government of Dubai,
Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing
and Smart Exporter
25th March 2014

2. www.sdi.co.uk
Fayha Sultan
Marketing Manager, Government of Dubai, Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing
Alex Watson
Head of Corporate Services, Davidson & Co, Legal Consultants
GlobalScot
Miranda Clegg
Head of Export, Highland Spring Group
Wendy Edie
Managing Director, eCom Scotland
Kirsteen Higgins
Smart Exporter Operations Manager for Scottish Development International (SDI)
Colin Crabbe
International Senior Manager, High Growth Markets Desk - Middle East, Scottish Development International
Please Welcome

3. www.sdi.co.uk
Today’s programme
09.00am Breakfast & Registration
09.30am Welcome from Colin Crabbe – Scottish Development International
09.40am Fayha Sultan– Opportunities in Dubai for Scottish companies
10.05am Miranda Clegg and Gemma Grierson from Highland Spring – experiences of doing
business in Dubai
10.30am Wendy Edie from eCom Scotland - experiences of doing business in Dubai
10.55am Presentation from Alex Watson, Global Scot
11.30am Kirsteen Higgins at Smart Exporter
11.45am Panel discussion and Q&A
12.15pm Networking and Lunch
1.00pm Event ends

4. www.sdi.co.uk

5. www.sdi.co.uk
Dubai wins World Expo 2020
Dubai's Expo 2020 plans in numbers
$7bn Expo 2020 financing costs
$23bn The impact of its successful bid
25 million Expected number of attendees
81,000 Number of new hotel rooms needed by 2020
chosen ahead of Ekaterinburg in Russia, Izmir in Turkey and Sao Paulo, Brazil

6. FAYHA SULTAN
MARKETING MANAGER - COMMERCE
AHLAN WA SAHLAN

7. AT A GLANCE
Moving
forward
Investment
Laws
Investment
Incentives
Economic
Diversification
Economic
Overview
Free
Zones

8. WHO WE ARE
DTCM
The Government of Dubai, Department of Tourism and
Commerce Marketing (DTCM) was established in
1997. The main responsibility of the department is the
promotion of Dubai’s commerce and tourism
interests overseas.

9. DUBAI’S VISION
TO BECOME THE PREFERRED
INVESTMENT DESTINATION IN THE
WORLD
H. H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed
Al Maktoum says:
“Most of people talk, we do things.”

10. ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
•Non-oil accounts for 96% of GDP
•Services sector 74%
•GDP grow 4.9% in 2013
www.definitelydubai.com

11. ADVANTAGES OF INVESTMENT
• Zero corporate & income tax
• Repatriation of capital
• Liberal business laws
• 5% customs duties on imported
goods
• Social and Economic openness
• Safe Haven in the Region
www.definitelydubai.com

12. ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION
Retail Tourism Infrastructure Trade
Finance Health Education ConstructionManufacturing

13. Connecting Minds
Creating the Future

14. EXPO 2020
- Great opportunity for UK companies as there will be huge spending by the government and private
sector
- Will create 277 thousand jobs 40% in hospitality and 30% in construction
- HSBC estimates spending related to the expo could reach £11.4 billion
- Deutsche Bank estimates £27 billion in infrastructure projects will need to be developed in preparation
for the event.
- Construction, financial, creative, education, health, tourism, retail, trade, entertainment
- Finances will be raised from mixed bond issues, bank borrowing, and cash raised from assets
disposals and profits from Dubai Inc. businesses

15. PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE
Al Maktoum International Airport
Six runways to handle 160 million passengers
Mohamed Bin Rashid City £9.3 billion
100 new hotels and a park larger than hyde Park
Opera House and Modern Art Museum
Cultural District galleries and design studios
Al Soufouh Tram
14.5 km to connect different points of the city
Blue Water Island 1.6 billion
World’s largest ferries wheel
Business Bay Canal Project
Extension of water canals to the Arabian Gulf
City of Arabia
Mall of Arabia, IMG World of Adventure, Wadi Walk, Waterfront
Culture Village
Museums, exhibition halls, hotels, traditional souks, theatres
Dubai Lifestyle City
Sports facilities for tennis and golf
Dubai Pearl
Retail, dining, entertainment, leisure
Dubai Sustainable City
Eco Tourism, planetarium, grass amphitheatre
The World
Three hundred islands in the shape of the world

16. Free Zone Outside Free Zone
Simple Application
Procedure
Partnership
with UAE Sponsor
STARTING A COMPANY

17. STARTING A COMPANY IN THE FREE ZONE
CITIES AND CLUSTERS OF LIKE MINDED
Housing facilities
100% capital
repatriation
No customs duty
Set up a branch
on mainland
Simple setting up
procedure
One stop shop
No income or
corporate tax tax
100% foreign
ownership and
control
Administrative
support

18. LIFE STYLE (www.definitelydubai.com)
•http://www.thisisdubai.ae/
•Cosmopolitan lifestyle
•Sophisticated infrastructure
•Ideal location
•Optimistic, dynamic
•Climate
•Modern and comfortable
•International schools and universities
•International cuisine and shopping
•Safety
•Many activities for the kids, Kidzania, Sega World, Aquaventure,
•Sporting capital of the Middle East
•Art & culture
Dolphin Bay
4x4 Desert
Safari
Ski Dubai
Sand Skiing

19. •Understand Islamic Culture
•Can I get a drink?
•Build a relationship
•Get used to drinking coffee and tea!
•Make regular visits
•Draft short reports
•Give tangible evidence
•Prioritise phoning to writing
•Gain their trust
•Accept late and last minute
invitations
•Remember Fridays and Ramadan
CULTURAL TIPS

20. MOVING FORWARD
Research
•Attend seminars
•Attend exhibitions
•Contact Chambers, trade
organisations, UKTI…
•Contact Dubai Foreign Direct
Investment
•Talk to law firms and relocations
companies
www.definitelydubai.com

22. Contact Us
Government of Dubai
Department of Tourism &
Commerce Marketing (DTCM)
4th Floor, Nuffield House
41- 46 Piccadilly
London, W1J 0DS
Tel: 020 7321 6110
Fax: 020 7321 6111
Email:dtcm_uk@dubaitourism.ae
Web: ww.definitelydubai.com
Dubai Update website & monthly
newsletter
http://www.dubaiupdateuk.com/

23. HIGHLAND SPRING GROUP
Miranda Clegg, Head of Export
DOING BUSINESS IN DUBAI

24. • We are the market leaders in bottled water in
the UK, No.1 brand since 2012(*)
• 20 years experience in the global bottled
water market
• We operate across 30 countries globally
• Highland Spring is the leading British Brand
in the Export market (**)
(*) SOURCE: ZENITH INTERNATIONAL, APRIL 2013 (**) ZENITH INTERNATIONAL, UK bottled water report 2012
Our Global Credentials

25. British Airways Exclusive Water
Supplier
• On board and in airport lounges
• 31.8 billion passengers annually
• Lounges in 60 worldwide locations
• 233 planes
• 150 destinations
• More than 11 million litres per year

26. Our Group History
We started bottling in 1979 and have exported throughout our history
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Highland Spring Group Sales since 1988
HSGLitreSalesinmillions
Greencore
Acquisition
Hydr8 & Hydr8 flavours
value water launch
Speyside
Glenlivet
Acquisition
Export is currently 2% of the business (over 10m litres)

27. We Are Industry Leaders
PIPELINEPIPELINE
•Our high quality assurance & standards to draw the water along our food grade stainless steel borehole from
protected ground source to bottle ensures our water remains pure as can be
PRODUCTIONPRODUCTION
- Industry leading water usage factor 1.3Litres per Litre
- British retail consortium Global Standard – Food Grade A
- BRC/Institute of Packaging Global Standard – Packaging category – B
1.31.3

28. Two Key Brands in the Export Market
Highland Spring
Speyside Glenlivet

29. Highland Spring in the UAE
ME is 52% of the export volume,
Kuwait, Bahrain, KSA, Qatar, Oman,
UAE
UAE is 9%+ of that ME volume

30. Our Importers in the UAE
• Highland Spring brand distributor
• Speyside Glenlivet brand distributor
• Franchise client – Almorooj/Alshaya (eg Starbucks)
• Franchise client – Jawad (Jamie’s Italian restaurant)
• British Airways
• Marks and Spencer (private label)
• His Excellency Al Tajir
+ Transhipping through Jebel Ali Port

31. Getting the Distributor Right…
• Mainly traders not brand builders
• Little focus on marketing
• Strong customer loyalty
• Strong distributor/buyer relationships
• Changing distributor breaks the trust and damages
relationships in market causing the brand to suffer
• If the distributor damages a client relationships it is
“nearly impossible” to get them back …

32. • 84.5% of main workforce in private sector are Asian*
• Senior managers and buyers tend to be Arabs or typically
South African/English/Australian…
• Typically owners are Arab + an expatriate owner who run
the business
• Important to select the right regional manager /
distributor, who can interact at the right levels and be
taken seriously
* Emirates Hospital 2010 data on private sector
Employment Culture

33. Important to Understand…..
WASTA
loosely translates into nepotism or clout or 'who you
know'. It refers to using one’s connections and/or
influence to get things done, including government
transactions

34. Financials
• Never had a problem with payments
• In fact, our current distributor had credit insurance
limit increased x 6 this week
• Distributors expect lengthy payments terms to
support the lengthy customer terms required
• Takes time to build the trust

35. Regulations
• Our biggest challenge
• Recently changed with no clear notice
• Unclear process in terms of requirements and costs
• Changing process and timelines
• Specifications in Arabic, pre-audit papers in English
& not clarifying the full requirements
• Compulsory onsite audit by Turkish auditors
• Necessary to have ISO 17025
• Costly and time consuming

36. SDI Support we used in UAE
• Enabled European funding towards our Regional Manager’s
salary for one year the first time in market
• Scottish Pavilion at Gulfood Expo each year
• Scottish Receptions and networking events
• Contacts with local distributors/buyers and assistance in
arranging meetings, helped to gain UK Embassy account
• Learning journey to the market and in store visits
• checked on our product in market

37. Summary
• Do your research
• Choose your distributor carefully
• Create a brand plan for your distributor
• Business relationships are often built through
connections
• Be aware of changing regulations and customs
requirements
• Consider how you can utilise social media
• Strong customer loyalty can be achieved

38. www.highlandspringgroup.com
www.highland-spring.com
www.speysideglenlivetwater.com
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION

39. eCom Scotland
Leading the Way in
eLearning Solutions

40. Bespoke eLearning
Award winning experts in creating customised
eLearning using creative technologies.
Mobile Learning
Publishing, managing and tracking mobile content, delivered
onto multiple devices.
eAssessment
Delivering online assessments for formative, summative
and adaptive testing.
E-Learning age shortlisted 2013
E-learning development company of the year

41. eNetEnterprise
eNetLearn
eNetAssess
A modern approach to skills management for building,
managing and maintaining a high performance
workforce.
A robust online portal where you can delivery, track,
measure and evaluate your eLearning.
A tried and tested web-based assessment tool, testing
skills and knowledge be it formative, summative or
adaptive
TM
TM
TM

42. • Founder Member and current Board
Member of The eLearning Alliance
• Current Board Member of
The e-Assessment Association
• Towards Maturity Ambassador
Involvement in eLearning Groups
Accreditations

44. eCom Scotland are proud
to be partnering DOOR
Saudi Arabia

45. eCom Scotland hails Gitex
2013 a great success!

46. Burj Kalifa

47. ASTD MENA

48. eLearning makes the Gulf
news

49. Thank you for listening

50. What is Dubai All About?
Alex Watson
GlobalScot

51. i UAE is UK’s largest Civil Export market in the Middle East
i UAE is 12th Largest export partner Globally
i Dubai largest market in Middle East.
i UK exported goods worth over £5.1 billion to Dubai in 2012 and GROWING
i 90% of trade conducted through Dubai and Northern Emirates.
i Minimum of 45% of imports are re-exported: Asia, Africa, GCC and Middle
East.
i Gateway to a $150 billion market.
i Springboard into more challenging Markets.
TRADE

52. Al Maktoum (Ruling Family)
Al Futtaim, Al Naboodah, Al Ghurair, Al Majid
Al Habtoor, Al Tayer, Al Gurg, Al Rostamani
Galadari, Lootah
HOW DUBAI WORKS

53. Ruling Family

54. Palm Island Projects, Healthcare City
The World, Dubailand, Dubai Creek Expansion
Meeras, City Walk, Meydan City,
Mohammed Bin Rashid City
Airport Expansions & New Airports
Over 100 New Hotels
Trump Golf
Business Bay
Yas Island
UAE MAJOR PROJECTS

55. High Value Opportunities for Scottish Businesses in airports,
aerospace, railway, metro, infrastructure projects and professional
services
MAJOR PROJECTS (Contd…)

56. UAE MAJOR PROJECTS

57. Not only will Dubai Expo 2020 be the first to be held in the Middle East, it will
also be the closest the Expo has ever been to Africa and South Asia, truly
bringing to life the theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”
Scottish expertise in delivering such events is held in high regard globally, and
given our close and historic links to the UAE, we stand in good stead to
compete for at least AED 7.3 Billion of business planning, designing and
delivering the Dubai Expo 2020 site.
EXPO 2020

58. Don’t forget the growing Northern Emirates & Abu Dhabi
Niche opportunities for Scottish companies
Have a Middle East Strategy (and beyond?) not just UAE
Understand the wider pricing issues
Take legal advice with M.E knowledge
Research , research , research
KEY ISSUES

59. Direct Export - Agent/Distributor
Representative Office
Branch Office
Limited Liability
Joint Venture/Participation
Freezone or Sponsor/Partner?
DOING BUSINESS IN UAE

60. Direct Export - Agent/Distributor
No distinction between agent & distributor
Cultural aspects – research , research , research
Registered or Unregistered agent ?
Exclusivity can be via product line / specific service
Dubai and Abu Dhabi separate agencies ?
Agreement subject to UAE law – ICC possible ?
Ensure “getoutability” of contract
DOING BUSINESS IN UAE

61. Representative Office
Branch Office
Sponsor generally needed – registration/formalities
Sponsors – no liability , investment , management
Fees are fairly established
Specialist UAE firms offer matching service
Termination may be difficult
DOING BUSINESS IN UAE

62. Limited Liability Company - LLC
At least 51% to be held by UAE national/company
Initial share capital 150k dhs/300k dhs for Dubai – NOT
necessary to deposit in the bank
Profit share may be disproportionate to shares
All or most share capital provided by foreign Investor
Vast majority of profits passed to foreign investor
Trust Documentation
DOING BUSINESS IN UAE

63. Joint Venture/Participation
UAE Companies Law permits joint participation
2 or more partners agree to share profits/losses
Does not need to be formally registered
Establishment immediate
JP would use name/trade licence of local registered
Disadvantage – independent financing limited ?
DOING BUSINESS IN UAE

64. Free Trade Zones
40+ FTZ’S – existing & proposed
No customs duties
No restrictions – profit transfer / capital repatriation
Exemption – corporate , withholding , inheritance taxes
No personal income tax or currency restrictions
BUT need local agent to trade in UAE
DOING BUSINESS IN UAE

65. Overseas Market Introduction Service Market Visits
Programme Arrangements Exhibitions
Company Information & Profiles Major Project Data
Market Summaries
But don’t forget others that can be helpful
GlobalScot / SDI / Scottish Enterprise
UKTI / British Business Group
Arab British Chamber of Commerce
UAE Chambers of Commerce
Me!
HELP IS AVAILABLE

66. SUMMARY
iResearch , research , research
iUnderstand cultural issues
iDevelop a regional strategy
iMaintain personal contact
iPlan for the long term , not a quick fix
iDo not let the lack of a licence stop you from doing Business
in the Middle East
iEnjoy the experience !!!

67. British Business Centres UAE

68. Key dates & progress
• May 2013 MOU signed with BBGs
• September 2013 Lord Green visit
• December 2013 CEO started
• March 2014 Lord Livingston visit; Dubai
launch
• October 2014 Abu Dhabi launch

69. Incubator premises at EBV

70. Incubator services
• Onshore licence
• 1 visa per company
• 12 months
• Facilitation, support & advice
• BBG membership & support

71. Sector focus

72. HOW CAN SMART EXPORTER HELP
YOUR BUSINESS?

73. WHAT IS SMART EXPORTER?
• Smart Exporter is an international trade skills
programme designed to increase exporting skills and knowledge
amongst Scottish businesses
• This initiative is delivered by Scottish Development International
and funded by ESF
• Smart Exporter services are available on a free or subsided basis to
businesses and individuals across Scotland

74. I need help identifying
an agent/distributor?
I’m new to
Exporting – where
do I start?
Market Research
support
I’m ready to export but I
don’t understand what export
paperwork or licences I
need?
I need help in
defining my
Export Strategy
International Strategy
Forum
International Strategy
Workshop
Specialist Technical
Support
HOW CAN SMART EXPORTER HELP YOUR BUSINESS?
We need an Export
Expert to help
implement our
International Strategy
International
Business Manager
for Hire
Export Advisor –
One to One support
Preparing to Export
Programme

75. PREPARING COMPANIES FOR EXPORT
• SDI’s Preparing to Export Programme supports companies by helping them develop
key skills in a range of business activities and equipping them with the knowledge to
operate internationally.
• It is delivered at THREE levels:
- Introductory - aimed at companies new to exporting, or individuals
- Intermediate – aimed at companies who are relatively inexperienced in international trade
- Advanced - for the more advanced exporter
• It is FREE to businesses across Scotland.
• It is delivered to between 6 – 10 companies by experienced International Trade
Consultants

76. TECHNICAL SUPPORT – AREAS OF COVERAGE
•
Certificates of
Origin
76
Support for specific ‘technical’ issues i.e. issues / queries relating to documentation, delivery,
certification, labelling, finance, customs, products & codes, supply chain logistics
Technical support via:
One to One Support - email, phone & face to face – up to One
day’s support. Via enquiries@smartexporter.co.uk

77. Email: enquiries@smartexporter.co.uk
Telephone: 0800 0191 953
Website: http://www.smartexporter.co.uk
Events: http://www.scottish.enterprise.com/events
Email: kirsteen.higgins@scotent.co.uk
NEXT STEPS – TALK TO AN EXPORT
ADVISOR

78. www.sdi.co.uk
Ask your questions to our panel
Questions to the panel