Looking East: New Frontiers

By Richard Cathie Senior Consultantand Mark Brown Associate, in Abu Dhabi

For those who have not visited the country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is likely to be an unknown quantity – similar to an Arabian epic novel of noble men in flowing robes, picturesque desert and perhaps the odd camel. For those who have cursory knowledge of the UAE, its significant oil & gas reserves and Dubai's recent debt troubles may be the first matters that come to mind. Whatever camp they fall in, New Zealand businesses looking for new markets may not get too excited about either the grand fiction or the narrow view of the UAE.

But New Zealand business should get excited. The UAE is a country on a massive development path that has every intention of becoming an economy of importance. With the recent announcement by the Foreign Minister, Hon Murray McCully, that New Zealand is to open an embassy in the United Arab Emirates it would appear the New Zealand Government agrees. The