Sharjah’s blue-ribbon mission lands in Washington

“Three-quarters of the government of Sharjah is represented on this bus,” chuckled the CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority as his delegation set off to tour Washington, DC, and

“Three-quarters of the government of Sharjah is represented on this bus,” chuckled the CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority as his delegation set off to tour Washington, DC, and he did not seem to be joking.

Sharjah’s first trade mission to the United States, the largest it has ever sent abroad, had landed in the capital.

The roster included dozens of movers and shakers from 21 public agencies and private organizations. Not only oil and gas were represented but health care, hospitality, public works, university, and environmental interests. Telegraphing the mission’s strategic importance: the leader was Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qassimi, whose dozen-odd leadership posts include Chairman of Sharjah’s National Oil Company.

Appointments would soon be kept with more than 350 US business executives from across the country. There would be lavish power lunches in ornate Washington clubrooms and summit meetings with CNN, Bloomberg, and the National Geographic. The goals were to raise awareness of Sharjah in the United States, establish a breakout identity for the third largest of the United Arab Emirates, and gently encourage more economic investment by Americans.

But first: sightseeing. The bus rumbled off to Capitol Hill, its jet-lagged riders chattering happily, taking snapshots, and pondering the task ahead.

“Expectations are very high back home,” murmured Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal in the back of the bus.

Al Sarkal, the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority CEO, is sharp-featured and soft-voiced. He fixes a listener with a persuasive gaze. He organized this mission from the ground up, lobbying Sharjah’s power players to join. Just 33, there is much riding on Al Sarkal’s shoulders – a Sharjah TV news crew shadowing the delegation planned blow-by-blow coverage – but if there was stress he wore it lightly. For the bus tour he traded business attire for a La Martina polo shirt bearing his football club logo, and like everyone else he craned to see the Capitol dome.

“With my personality I love to take on challenges that are tough,” said Al Sarkal. “You have to have a very strong objective you believe in, and a team you can rely on.”

Sharjah has a very strong, if underappreciated, story to tell. As a modest, conservative Islamic state it thrives quietly in the formidable shadows of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and many Americans know little of Sharjah. (“At first I had to say I came from a place close to Saudi Arabia,” said Nasser Akram, the US-educated communications head of DanaGas. “It’s all about awareness.”) But Sharjah was the first emirate to attract American capital, back in the 1960s. Its people are particularly well educated. There is religious tolerance; Sharjah has more Christian churches than the rest of the UAE combined. And its economy has evolved well beyond petroleum. “Not a single sector represents more than 20 percent of the economy,” said Badr Jafar, CEO of Sharjah’s Crescent Enterprises, which itself has diversified from its oil-and-gas beginnings into aviation, logistics, health care, and more. More than 45,000 small and medium-sized enterprises are at work in Sharjah today.

The bus paused near the White House and the Sharjah mission piled out for group photos in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue like any other group of tourists. A few well-behaved Sharwati children cavorted in fall sunshine.

Today Sharjah seeks to carve its own profile as the UAE’s educational, cultural and industrial capital, with the best port infrastructure. It’s instigating friendly competition among emirates by inviting investors to compare cost and efficiency factors.
“I would advise anyone who wants to move to the UAE to come to Sharjah because setup costs are so reasonable,” said Nada Al Iwati, on the board of the Sharjah Business Women Council. “In Dubai, everything is so expensive. In Sharjah, setup costs are one-third of anywhere else in the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council].”

Sharjah offers a network of free zones with tax advantages and logistic assistance for foreign companies. Saud Salim Al Marouei, the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority’s director of commercial affairs, travels the world seeing what manufacturers want so he can customize supply chain assistance. “We are the fastest issuers of licenses in the UAE,” he said with a hint of pride. “We can issue a license in less than two hours.” Not that due diligence isn’t done. A firm that applied to repack used car batteries in Al Marouei’s free zone got a polite no on environmental grounds.

Indeed, another untold story is Sharjah’s commitment to recycling, sustainable energy, and other environmental issues. Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chair of Sharjah’s Environment and Protected Area Authority and an ardent conservationist, was riding the bus too, making her first visit to America (“It’s cool, really – I like it so much”). Practically straight off the airplane, she marched off in her traditional hijab to see Washington’s National Zoo, and she looked forward to a field trip to a Smithsonian conservation center outside the city.

“I believe there are national parks everywhere in the US,” she said. “And we are interested in botanical gardens too.” Al Suwaidi oversees Sharjah’s Arabian Wildlife Center, which cares for endangered species (snakes, birds, amphibia, gazelles) and wants to increase exchanges of specimen animals with US zoos.

Surprised to find Sharjawi women in leadership roles? Don’t be. It’s another small revelation about this emerging emirate.

“Sharjah recognized the role of women early on,” averred Ameera BinKaram, chair of the Sharjah Business Women Council.

BinKaram joined the mission to seek new connections with women-owned businesses, or those that cater to women. She credits Sharjah’s ruler, His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, and the First Lady, Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, with building a culture of respect for women. “For women, the only challenge is self-confidence,” said BinKaram.

For the entire Sharjah delegation crisscrossing Washington and New York, the main challenge is to temper expectations of quick victories. They know the significant new investments they seek in tourism, health care, environmental services, and transport logistics may take years of effort. They intend to be good students of their prospects, listening and adjusting as they go.

“Every day is a new day, a new lesson,” Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal said softly as the bus tour concluded. “You never reach a situation where you know everything.”

The bus nosed up to the Sharjah delegation’s hotel. Sightseeing was over, dusk was falling, and the business of their trip was beginning. As the delegates went to work, all seemed ready. For Sharjah the road ahead may be long but looks full of promise.

About the author

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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