On Day 4 we start at the American Hospital Dubai (AHD), a Mayo-associate clinic in the midst of the city. Our host leads the paediatric part of the clinic, he moved to Dubai about a year ago. His colleague - an experienced endocrinologist - introduces us to the hospital’s strategy and also touches on health tech and insurance topics. Thereafter, our host takes us on a hospital tour and outlines respective processes, further he points out differences between the local healthcare system and the Swiss one in specific since he used to work in Switzerland. Back in the meeting room, we discuss lifestyle differences between Dubai and other global cites. Life is considered as very safe and agreeable in Dubai, however, summers are hot (both day and night), cars need to be sand-proof due to sandstorms and to obtain alcohol, one must have a specific licence.
After an extensive local lunch, we head off to the Swiss Consulate in one of the first “business” buildings of the city – the Dubai World Trade Center. The Counsul General and two experts in the field of company connections, explain us how Switzerland Global Enterprises can assist companies from Switzerland to have a footprint in the GCC. The unit here provides Service Public to all Swiss companies – but also offers more extensive counselling service for companies with a more dedicated strategy towards the region. They serve the whole UAE-region and surroundings.
As final highlight of the day we meet CRESCO Holding’s Managing Director and his wonderful team. When established in 2010, the goal was to build a home for companies working in different industries supporting respective synergies. Five years ago, the firm started to build up a service structure for accounting, compliance, process design and legal consulting. The latest baby, however, lies in the pristine waters of the Philippines – we look forward to this place in action! We are then invited to a networking exchange with the full local team (further teams work in the Philippines and Seychelles and can only watch us on video).
Today was another great opportunity to dive into Dubai’s business world which is not completely different from the one in Europe. However you ought to be mindful of the local culture – and it is recommended to rely on people with expert knowledge who can help set-up required connections.
