The women dressed modestly, with gowns over their clothing called abaya and scarves called shaila. The young women made fashion statements of their own with what they wore under their black gowns...it wasn't unusual to see skinny jeans or leggings peaking out from under the gowns, and the young women often wore fancy stilletto heals and bright belts, and they almost always carried costly designer purses.
The Alliance in Dubai
On March 5, Alliance President & CEO Sandra McDonough, left on a weeklong trip to Dubai with 40 other chamber of commerce leaders from across the country.
The trip, planned by the Dubai Chamber and the American Council of Chamber Executives, will highlight trade and other economic opportunities between the U.S. and Dubai. McDonough also hopes to learn about Portland-area businesses working in Dubai.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Tasty Middle Eastern food
As an international city, Dubai features cuisine from every part of the world but there still are glimpses of native foods, in the wonderful mezzehs, familar to all of us at home who frequent Middle Eastern restaurants, and the ubiquitous grilled lamb and chicken.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Back home and reflections
We flew home on Friday, March 12, and, thanks again to my colleague Steve Falk in San Francisco, we were upgraded to business class. It's a 16-hour flight from Dubai to San Francisco, and that upgrade is worth a lot!
Dubai was a phenomenal experience. I can't say enough about the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which hosted us so well. For six straight days, the Dubai Chamber staff looked after our group of more than 40 American Chamber executives/tourists, and it was quality all the way, whether we were touring The Palm, Dubai's famous island development, or visiting the desert for four-wheel adventures, camel rides and henna tatoos. The generosity of the Chamber was amazing.
Thanks also to the American Council of Chamber Executives for making the trip possible for me and my chamber leader colleagues across the country. Chris Mead and Chaaron Pearson of ACCE did a great job of keeping us all organized.
On one of our last business days, we spent time with the Dubai Chamber leaders and some leaders from their sister chambers in other emirates. Managing a chamber presents universal challenges and opportunities, we learned. All of us, UAE or US, focused on what we need to do to provide value to members and how we can best advocate for our members' needs before government. Right now, chamber membership is mandatory for many businesses in Dubai (but not businesses in the free zones), and that puts them in a pretty good financial situation. But they look to a day when membership might not be mandatory, and they were thoughtful about what it would take to provide sufficient value to make companies WANT to be members of the chamber - very similar to what all of us in the US deal with every day.
On another day, we had the opportunity to meet business members of the Dubai Chamber, and that was a phenomenal experience. They talked about doing business in Dubai, the opportunities and the challenges. Clearly, all of them saw huge opportunity there, and they encouraged more American business to find opportunities to be in Dubai and all of the Middle East.
Some final thoughts about my Dubai experience:
The People. Only about 15 percent of Dubai's inhabitants are native, which makes this the most international city I have ever traveled to. Some 200 countries are represented here, and you see that every single day on the streets, through company names, languages that are spoken, native dress and so many other ways. As the vice chairman of the Dubai Chamber, Hisham Al Shirawi, told us, "Dubai is as the world should be." Many nationalities working together, peacefully and coorperatively. The Dubai people, across the board, were kind and accommodating. This is a place that knows it relies on the rest of the world for its economic prosperity, and they work hard to build positive relationships.
Education. An amazing fact - so many of the native Arabs we met had studied in the U.S. And not necessarily at big-name universities. Colleges and universities from all over the U.S. were represented, includng Oregon schools. The head of DP World, Dubai's major trading company, went to the University of Portland. Portland State has some 2,000 alum in the Middle East, as well as education experiences for students in those countries. Is there a better way to build stronger relationships with these Middle Eastern countries than through these students with experience in our country? Many of the people we met talked about how their image of the U.S. and American citizens changed dramatically when they were here, just as our image of Arab nations changed as we got to know them.
The Dress. As a cosmopolitan, international city, Dubai shows itself with all kinds of national dress, from western mini skirts to conservative Middle Eastern garb. On our first day there, we learned about the Arabian garb we saw so frequently, including on our Chamber hosts. The men wore long robes, called kandora, with head scarfs called qetra. The women dressed modestly, with gowns over their clothing called abaya and scarves called shaila. The men were mostly in white, but occasionally their robes were blue, brown, gold or green. The scarves were almost always white, but the pieces that held them in placed were black or red and white. The women's gowns and scarves were always black, but they were frequently decorated with sparkles or colors. We learned that the clothing colors and styles were not dictated by religion (althought Islam teaches women to dress modestly), but rather they reflected traditional native dress and personal style. The young women, we noticed, made fashion statements of their own with what they wore under their black gowns...it wasn't unusual to see skinny jeans or leggings peaking out from under the gowns, and the young women often wore fancy stilletto heals and bright belts, and they almost always carried costly designer purses. In Dubai, the Nike people told me, high-end designer apparel is the fashion of choice, and we saw a lot of it.
Shopping. In the summer, it gets as hot as 130 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is no wonder that Dubai stores have moved inside. We saw few street fairs...but the malls were highly developed. Dubai boasts, of course, the largest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall, which is at the foot of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. And not far away is the Emirates Mall, also huge in scale and famous for its indoor ski slope (kept at about 25 degrees F). Every few miles there is another mall, equally grand. All of them include the big, global retailers familiar to us at home, incuding Nike and Columbia Sportswear. The first Bloomingdales ever to open outside of the U.S. is at the Dubai Mall, and by all accounts is doing well. But that doesn't mean retail is great in Dubai. While once going gangbusters, retail sales are flat - but that is pretty good compared to many U.S. locations which have seen retail lose ground. We saw some empty storefronts, particularly among small, independent shop owners, a sign that the global recession has hit here too.
The Recession. Our hosts made no effort to downplay the fact that Dubai was impacted by the global recession. In a city that once had 25 percent of all of the construction cranes in the world, Dubai's skyline is full of half-finished building, some with little or no activity now. Our hosts told us that work was slowed, but not stopped at the major projects. But outside of the city, we saw housing projects that clearly had been stopped. Dubai's financial problems are famous, but what we saw is a city that is enthusiastic about the future. When the time is right, they said, work will resume and Dubai will continue its quest to be the biggest and the best in everything.
Sustainable Development. The Dubai Chamber building was the first LEED certified building in the city, and more are following. But building LEED buildings in this hot, desert city is hard. Neighboring Abu Dhabi has developed its own conservation standards that reflect life in the desert. And in Dubai, Sheik Mohammed has decreed that all new buildings will be energy efficient. This is, said an American architect I met, a huge opportunity for U.S. architects knowledgeable about energy efficiency to find work in Dubai and help them build sustainably in away that works for a desert climate. In other areas, we heard a lot about Dubai's focus in building sustainably, including at The Palm, the island development they created off the coast for residential development. We will see how all of that turns out.
The Skyline. Dubai's skyline reminded me of Shanghai - so much new and interesting architecture. The building were spectacular - all unique and all interesting. Skyscraper after skyscraper has risen in this city, with Burj Khalifa towering over them all. Dubai clearly is the place to be for architects wanting to make a statement in design. But within the city are many old-fashioned mosques. What a contrast there is when you hear the call to prayer from these mosques, while standing among the modern skyscrapers and 21st-century architecture.
The Food. As an international city, Dubai features cuisine from every part of the world. You can pick up McDonalds or go to an authentic Indian restaurant. And there still are glimpses of native foods, in the wonderful mezzehs, familar to all of us at home who frequent Middle Eastern restaurants, and the ubiquitous grilled lamb and chicken. My one wish is that we had more opportunity to sample native foods in small, neighborhood restaurants.
Security. When we went to the Sheik's palace, we all marveled that we walked right in, subject to no metal detectors or pat-downs. How could this city be secure? Yet we learned that Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world. Security is everywhere, you just don't see it. The police are frequently invisible, but they are there. And cameras are everywhere. When I took a walk in the morning, I hesitated to go outside in the early morning dark (the sun doesn't rise until after 6 a.m.). But the hotel personnel assured me there were cameras on the walkway; I just didn't see them. Crime among Dubai residents is very low, possibly because the penalties are strict. I'm told people leave their cars running when they go into the shopping malls in the summer so that the air conditioning can run continuously. They have no fear that the car will be stolen, because that just doesn't happen there.
Leadership. Dubai is the result of the vision of one man, Sheik Mohammed. Everywhere we went we heard his vision for the city and the region repeated by leader after leader. One man told us that, when the Sheik has an idea, there is no saying no to it, whether it means building the tallest building in the world or creating fine resorts. While there have been bumps along the way, including fall out from the global recession, Dubai is a product of that vision and it shows the power that one person can have.
Dubai is a place I never thought about going to until I had this extraordinary opportunity made possible by the Dubai Chamber. I am so glad I went. This is an extraordinary city - a vision that rose out of desert sun. Is Dubai typical of the Middle East? Probably not, but it is an experience in and of itself, and it is city that will have a global impact for a long time to come.
Dubai was a phenomenal experience. I can't say enough about the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which hosted us so well. For six straight days, the Dubai Chamber staff looked after our group of more than 40 American Chamber executives/tourists, and it was quality all the way, whether we were touring The Palm, Dubai's famous island development, or visiting the desert for four-wheel adventures, camel rides and henna tatoos. The generosity of the Chamber was amazing.
Thanks also to the American Council of Chamber Executives for making the trip possible for me and my chamber leader colleagues across the country. Chris Mead and Chaaron Pearson of ACCE did a great job of keeping us all organized.
On one of our last business days, we spent time with the Dubai Chamber leaders and some leaders from their sister chambers in other emirates. Managing a chamber presents universal challenges and opportunities, we learned. All of us, UAE or US, focused on what we need to do to provide value to members and how we can best advocate for our members' needs before government. Right now, chamber membership is mandatory for many businesses in Dubai (but not businesses in the free zones), and that puts them in a pretty good financial situation. But they look to a day when membership might not be mandatory, and they were thoughtful about what it would take to provide sufficient value to make companies WANT to be members of the chamber - very similar to what all of us in the US deal with every day.
On another day, we had the opportunity to meet business members of the Dubai Chamber, and that was a phenomenal experience. They talked about doing business in Dubai, the opportunities and the challenges. Clearly, all of them saw huge opportunity there, and they encouraged more American business to find opportunities to be in Dubai and all of the Middle East.
Some final thoughts about my Dubai experience:
The People. Only about 15 percent of Dubai's inhabitants are native, which makes this the most international city I have ever traveled to. Some 200 countries are represented here, and you see that every single day on the streets, through company names, languages that are spoken, native dress and so many other ways. As the vice chairman of the Dubai Chamber, Hisham Al Shirawi, told us, "Dubai is as the world should be." Many nationalities working together, peacefully and coorperatively. The Dubai people, across the board, were kind and accommodating. This is a place that knows it relies on the rest of the world for its economic prosperity, and they work hard to build positive relationships.
Education. An amazing fact - so many of the native Arabs we met had studied in the U.S. And not necessarily at big-name universities. Colleges and universities from all over the U.S. were represented, includng Oregon schools. The head of DP World, Dubai's major trading company, went to the University of Portland. Portland State has some 2,000 alum in the Middle East, as well as education experiences for students in those countries. Is there a better way to build stronger relationships with these Middle Eastern countries than through these students with experience in our country? Many of the people we met talked about how their image of the U.S. and American citizens changed dramatically when they were here, just as our image of Arab nations changed as we got to know them.
The Dress. As a cosmopolitan, international city, Dubai shows itself with all kinds of national dress, from western mini skirts to conservative Middle Eastern garb. On our first day there, we learned about the Arabian garb we saw so frequently, including on our Chamber hosts. The men wore long robes, called kandora, with head scarfs called qetra. The women dressed modestly, with gowns over their clothing called abaya and scarves called shaila. The men were mostly in white, but occasionally their robes were blue, brown, gold or green. The scarves were almost always white, but the pieces that held them in placed were black or red and white. The women's gowns and scarves were always black, but they were frequently decorated with sparkles or colors. We learned that the clothing colors and styles were not dictated by religion (althought Islam teaches women to dress modestly), but rather they reflected traditional native dress and personal style. The young women, we noticed, made fashion statements of their own with what they wore under their black gowns...it wasn't unusual to see skinny jeans or leggings peaking out from under the gowns, and the young women often wore fancy stilletto heals and bright belts, and they almost always carried costly designer purses. In Dubai, the Nike people told me, high-end designer apparel is the fashion of choice, and we saw a lot of it.
Shopping. In the summer, it gets as hot as 130 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is no wonder that Dubai stores have moved inside. We saw few street fairs...but the malls were highly developed. Dubai boasts, of course, the largest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall, which is at the foot of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. And not far away is the Emirates Mall, also huge in scale and famous for its indoor ski slope (kept at about 25 degrees F). Every few miles there is another mall, equally grand. All of them include the big, global retailers familiar to us at home, incuding Nike and Columbia Sportswear. The first Bloomingdales ever to open outside of the U.S. is at the Dubai Mall, and by all accounts is doing well. But that doesn't mean retail is great in Dubai. While once going gangbusters, retail sales are flat - but that is pretty good compared to many U.S. locations which have seen retail lose ground. We saw some empty storefronts, particularly among small, independent shop owners, a sign that the global recession has hit here too.
The Recession. Our hosts made no effort to downplay the fact that Dubai was impacted by the global recession. In a city that once had 25 percent of all of the construction cranes in the world, Dubai's skyline is full of half-finished building, some with little or no activity now. Our hosts told us that work was slowed, but not stopped at the major projects. But outside of the city, we saw housing projects that clearly had been stopped. Dubai's financial problems are famous, but what we saw is a city that is enthusiastic about the future. When the time is right, they said, work will resume and Dubai will continue its quest to be the biggest and the best in everything.
Sustainable Development. The Dubai Chamber building was the first LEED certified building in the city, and more are following. But building LEED buildings in this hot, desert city is hard. Neighboring Abu Dhabi has developed its own conservation standards that reflect life in the desert. And in Dubai, Sheik Mohammed has decreed that all new buildings will be energy efficient. This is, said an American architect I met, a huge opportunity for U.S. architects knowledgeable about energy efficiency to find work in Dubai and help them build sustainably in away that works for a desert climate. In other areas, we heard a lot about Dubai's focus in building sustainably, including at The Palm, the island development they created off the coast for residential development. We will see how all of that turns out.
The Skyline. Dubai's skyline reminded me of Shanghai - so much new and interesting architecture. The building were spectacular - all unique and all interesting. Skyscraper after skyscraper has risen in this city, with Burj Khalifa towering over them all. Dubai clearly is the place to be for architects wanting to make a statement in design. But within the city are many old-fashioned mosques. What a contrast there is when you hear the call to prayer from these mosques, while standing among the modern skyscrapers and 21st-century architecture.
The Food. As an international city, Dubai features cuisine from every part of the world. You can pick up McDonalds or go to an authentic Indian restaurant. And there still are glimpses of native foods, in the wonderful mezzehs, familar to all of us at home who frequent Middle Eastern restaurants, and the ubiquitous grilled lamb and chicken. My one wish is that we had more opportunity to sample native foods in small, neighborhood restaurants.
Security. When we went to the Sheik's palace, we all marveled that we walked right in, subject to no metal detectors or pat-downs. How could this city be secure? Yet we learned that Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world. Security is everywhere, you just don't see it. The police are frequently invisible, but they are there. And cameras are everywhere. When I took a walk in the morning, I hesitated to go outside in the early morning dark (the sun doesn't rise until after 6 a.m.). But the hotel personnel assured me there were cameras on the walkway; I just didn't see them. Crime among Dubai residents is very low, possibly because the penalties are strict. I'm told people leave their cars running when they go into the shopping malls in the summer so that the air conditioning can run continuously. They have no fear that the car will be stolen, because that just doesn't happen there.
Leadership. Dubai is the result of the vision of one man, Sheik Mohammed. Everywhere we went we heard his vision for the city and the region repeated by leader after leader. One man told us that, when the Sheik has an idea, there is no saying no to it, whether it means building the tallest building in the world or creating fine resorts. While there have been bumps along the way, including fall out from the global recession, Dubai is a product of that vision and it shows the power that one person can have.
Dubai is a place I never thought about going to until I had this extraordinary opportunity made possible by the Dubai Chamber. I am so glad I went. This is an extraordinary city - a vision that rose out of desert sun. Is Dubai typical of the Middle East? Probably not, but it is an experience in and of itself, and it is city that will have a global impact for a long time to come.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Sandi in the Dubai desert
The ACCE delegation enjoyed a relaxing last night watching the sun set in the desert, exploring the terrain in ATVs and riding camels. Sandra McDonough poses with next to a camel after her ride.
Send off dinner
Thursday we went four-wheeling in the desert sand dunes and then I rode a camel. I am so glad they invented roads and cars. After that activity we gathered for our last dinner in Dubai.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A visit to the Nike office in Dubai
Thanks to board member Julia Brim-Edwards, I was lucky enough to visit Nike's office in Dubai. It is a small office, just six people, charged with establishing the Nike brand in the Middle East. Hard for us to imagine - Nike is not a strong brand here, having been preceded into the market by others. But under the leadership of Dan Frolec, who came to the Dubai office from Nike's Eastern Europe operations, they have set a goal to become the Number 1 sports brand by emphasizing Nike product innovation. They are focusing first on football (soccer to us), which is an established sport here, but are also building markets in sportswear, women's fitness and running. Sports marketing is not well developed here, so Nike is starting from the ground up at the grassroots level to build the culture and then the market, not just in Dubai, but across the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Beirut and in the rest of the Emirates. They are dealing with cultural issues, such as the limits on marketing to women in Saudi Arabia and the fact that running is not a generally accepted sport here - yet.
Nike stores are in some of Dubai's top shopping malls. One, in the Emirates Mall, is one of the top performing non-Nike owned retail stores in the world.
Nike stores are in some of Dubai's top shopping malls. One, in the Emirates Mall, is one of the top performing non-Nike owned retail stores in the world.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
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