Doing Business in the Gulf

The project "Doing Business in the Gulf" explores opportunities and challenges for Swiss exporters arising from major new developments in the Gulf region as well as the basic approach for a successful export business in this region.

Factsheet

  • Lead school(s) School of Engineering and Computer Science
  • Institute Institute for Data Applications and Security (IDAS)
  • Research unit IDAS / International Management
  • Funding organisation Otto Wirz Foundation
  • Duration (planned) 01.04.2022 - 01.12.2023
  • Project management Prof. Dr. Paul Ammann
  • Head of project Prof. Dr. Paul Ammann
  • Project staff Prof. Dr. Paul Ammann
    Gerald Drißner
  • Keywords Export, Gulf, International Management

Current Situation

The countries of the Gulf region are all facing major challenges: The foreseeable end of the oil age; a large state sector; many young people who want to work; the major impact of climate change. Because of these challenges, strategic investment programs have been developed. The project "Doing Business in the Gulf" explores how Swiss Exporters can profit from these developments.

In this project, the Research Group International Management is investigating an important but also challenging target region for the Swiss export industry. The countries of the Gulf region - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Oman - are all facing major social challenges: Foreseeable end of the oil age; large state sector that can no longer be financed in the medium term; many young people who want to work; major impact of climate change in the region. Because of these challenges, strategic programs have been developed with the goal of fundamentally transforming society, state agencies and the economy into modern and diversified economies. Goals include job creation, increasing gross domestic product, increasing the share of the private sector, and diversifying the economy and tax revenues. The goals are ambitious and require huge investments. Under these programs, the following industries are prioritized: Tourism, Mining, Information Technologies, Petrochemicals, Manufacturing, Construction and Energy. This transformation process is a good opportunity for increasing Swiss exports.  The project "Doing Business in the Gulf" explores opportunities and challenges for Swiss exporters arising from these developments as well as the basic approach for a successful export business in this region.