Ann Viken, a Norwegian health care business professional, found that it can pay to be apprenticed with the government in Abu Dhabi before venturing out on one’s own.
Starting a business can seem like a Herculean task for those unfamiliar with the Middle East and its slower pace of business, where having connections and a grasp of the local language and ways of doing things always help.
Local laws also stipulate that entrepreneurs must have a local partner who has majority ownership, unless operating out of a free zone. (The country’s foreign investment law is being updated to allow foreigners to own 100 per cent in certain sectors outside of the free zones.) Details