K. P. DUDAREV, Orientalist, entrepreneur HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM DOING BUSINESS IN OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES Saudi Arabia Keywords:, Arab market, oil industry-business negotiations, competitive advantages During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, some Russian companies that were experiencing financial difficulties in Russia were going to "find happiness" in the rich markets of the Persian Gulf countries, including the KSA. However, these attempts were doomed to failure in advance for a number of reasons. First of all, because entering the Saudi market is a rather long, complex and costly process. KSA MARKET - A MARKET FOR THE STRONG 20-30 thousand dollars. it may be required at the very initial stage for commercial registration. This includes considerable expenses for translation of all statutory documents in Russia, first from Russian to English, and then in Saudi Arabia for translation from English to Arabic. To this, you need to add payment for the services of a firm or individual who will directly deal with all the procedures for obtaining the relevant documents, plus official fees, etc. To participate in the tender, you must issue a tender guarantee, and then, if successful, a performance guarantee. Experience shows that companies experiencing financial difficulties may not be able to issue these bank guarantees. Over the past two years, several Russian firms have "gone out of their way", faced with the need to issue urgent bank guarantees. An advance payment, usually in the amount of 10-20% of the project cost, is also issued under a bank guarantee. As soon as a foreign company appears in any Arab country, including Saudi Arabia, it becomes the object of attention from many local firms offering assistance in commercial registration, office rental, housing and even in obtaining projects. As a rule, most local companies are really interested in partnership, hoping to develop and grow in the course of further joint work. However, there are firms that seek only to capital ... Read more