Your Experience with work in UAE

[cry22]

Hello all,
We are setting out for the Big5 show in Dubai next month. We are a US based MEP firm hoping for some contacts for work in the UAE. We keep hearing of more bigger and bigger projects in the plans.

Any experiences you can share working in that country (UAE)? Legal, Banking, fees, ethics, MEP systems used, do clients pay on time? is it worth the trouble? is a local office a must? is a joint venture a must? free zone? what type of clients whould we target? customs, taxes, etc.. anything you can share is greatly appreciated.

We'd like to hear it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Thank you.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

From what I hear - you need a "partner" - someone sho knows the language and can "work" with the locals. Expect to pay a lot.