What do you think about Halliburton's decision to move its corporate headquarters to Dubai? In our October newsletter of last year, we talked about why the UAE is an attractive country to do business in. In other news, Dubai World, the holding company for the recently controversial Dubai Ports World, has launched the Arabic version of its website.

Do you think Halliburton should translate its website into Arabic if its corporate headquarters are in Dubai?

The next hotspot for outsourcing? Adel Danish of Xceed claims its going to be Egypt.

As the Egyptian outsourcing industry continues to grow, Danish envisages the “new silk road” as being an integral factor. “Most of the submarine cables that run from East to West go through the Suez Canal, so where we used to be on a trade crossroads between Asia and Europe, we are now sitting on huge bandwidth — a fibre-optic silk road, so the telecoms cost is very cheap.”

So many companies, especially ones with established brands, are reluctant to go into the Middle East. This is probably due to an innate trepidation for entering a market that is perceived as being completely different than Europe and Asian ones. Horror stories of offending the dominant religious culture make their way back to global marketers, who refrain from introducing the brand anywhere in the region but Israel. However, there are exceptions to this, and the story of Booster Juice is one of them. Its CEO Dale Wishewan decided that the Middle East, especially its Arabic countries, would be a fine start for his global expansion.

And his instincts have proved him right, even when some might have raised their eyebrows about taking the chain to places like the Middle East.

Last year he sold franchise rights in the United Arab Emirates to a partnership group called Alhokari. The group has taken 48 North American retail concepts to the U.A.E., ranging from fashion to food outlets.

"The people kept seeking us out. They knew they wanted a fresh juice and smoothie concept," said Wishewan.

Alhokari set up two stores in Dubai and seven in Riad, Saudi Arabia.

"It was our first international expansion. They had such a big infrastructure that we felt comfortable," said Wishewan.

It took a while for Arabic people to warm to the concept, but the juice bars have become a huge hit.

This article gave some excellent insight into the business culture of the United Arab Emirates. This article provides further reasons why Dubai is such a popular place for business, and is also becoming a popular destination for leisure.

Conversation is in Arabic, Farsi (the Persian language), English (the lingua franca), and a mass of the South Asian and Asian languages spoken by the guest workers, the in-principle temporary immigrants who outnumber the natives of the United Arab Emirates by four to one.

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At least the wealthy of Dubai, despite a propensity to drive SUVs very fast and kill themselves on the highway, seem to still be very attached to some of the pre-globalization traditions.

One of these is camels. At the drop of a dime - or a dirham, the local currency - they will tell you the many virtues of the beast. In particular they consider camel milk, as well as honey from desert flowers, to be essential to good health. They also remain true to Dubai's and the Emirates' seafaring past. They go out in boats and catch and eat fish, somewhat un-Arab behavior.

The other traditional Dubai sport that I encountered with fascination this trip was falconry. Birds are bred or bought, trained, and exercised by the wealthy here. A falcon can cost $150,000 to $200,000.

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Dubai known to be the trading hub of Middle East has surpassed many of the good cities in the world in terms of its development. Be it any industry airlines, hotels, hospitals, electronics or construction all industries are flourishing in Dubai. With the establishment of Dubai International Financial City (DIFC) in Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai has become the financial hub for the middle-east.