SAUDI ARABIA – TIME
FOR PIONEERS

During the trip, a delegation of Russian-speaking businessmen from the UAE was received by high-ranking representatives of the Ministry of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, visited the prestigious and largest business accelerator in the Gulf region, - The Garage, - where successful startups are provided with support and important contracts. These meetings were a fruitful platform to discuss potential investments in various industries and business development in Saudi Arabia.
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It should be noted that special attention of the business mission participants was paid to presentation of the strategic development and diversification of the Saudi Arabia economy "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Vision 2030" program containing ambitious plans to bring up important life aspects of the Kingdom to new levels.

"Prior going to Riyadh, I didn't fully understand why I needed the Middle East and what attracted me to it from a business point of view," says Danila Klimenko, Import-Export Operations Manager at Selena Company. "The introductory lecture on cross-cultural communications prepared by the Arabists 4C Academy experts emphasized the importance of understanding the Middle East cultural essentialities in order to achieve effective interaction in the multinational commercial environments of Arab countries and successfully build long-term partnerships. The business mission allowed me to reassess the prospects for development of our company in this region of opportunities."
Business delegation to Riyadh also visited several offices of foreign companies successfully operating in Saudi Arabia where they exchanged views on the most pressing topics related to the starting requirements for new businesses aiming at entering the Saudi Arabian market.
And yet, the business mission was not limited to the business issues. The trip included the Kingdom’s capital, Riyadh, sightseeing tour with attending new business districts and visits to authentic restaurants with local cuisine which allowed to immerse into the variety of specialties and tastes of Saudi Arabia.
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A cultural tour around the "old city" of Al Diriyah imbued with atmosphere of Kingdom’s historical heritage and traditional elements of live performances on moments of the Saudi society daily life, - from brewing traditional Arabic coffee in copper coffee pots and molding adobe bricks to buying spices and incense in the traditional market, - added to the feeling of belonging to the folk life of the East and, at the same time, made me think of a sharp contrast of what was happening.

"Our company, as the organizer of the trip, expresses its gratitude to all the participants of our first business mission to Riyadh for their trust, interest and, of course, for their contribution to strengthening business and cultural ties between the businesses of Russia, the CIS and Saudi Arabia," emphasizes Vyacheslav Eliseev, founder and CEO of Arabists Business Solutions. "During this mission we were not only able to get acquainted with the life and prospects for development of the Kingdom but also witnessed the country's victory in the competition for the right to host the Expo 2030 exhibition which makes the prospects even brighter. Our opinion about the KSA have changed, and in some ways we ourselves have changed. And this gives us faith in further success in the country and the region as a whole.

We are happy to participate in the creation of new partnerships and in cultural exchanges. The next mission is planned on February and it will become regular to allow more partners interested in this new and rapidly opening market to join us and to discover it with us. With our deep regional expertise, with our knowledge of the Arabic language, understanding of this very much open minded and unique mentality, peculiarities of the national character and Middle Eastern approaches to business, Saudi Arabia will become more understandable and closer for many".

The first visit of a business delegation to Saudi Arabia, the first touch on the possibilities of doing business in this amazing country, which many have yet to carefully explore and discover all its facets, showed the time for pioneers has come. And it is now. With only a few years to go until the World Expo 2030, Riyadh is waiting for all those who aspire to the Middle East, to its heart – with new technologies, interesting large-scale projects, innovative strategies and confidence in success.