Indian entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Indian entrepreneurs have been successful in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the years and there in growing interest among Indians to not just seek jobs there but also to build new enterprises in the UAE. This interest has been built over time by both favorable policies for foreign startups or foreign entrants in the UAE, as well as the greater comfort of working in a region with a large Indian origin population that may favor being employed in Indian owned companies. Many Indian firms started with taking export orders from the UAE and have over the years taken steps towards establishing sales and service offices for their products that are growing in demand. Also many agribusiness product companies have seen remarkable sales growth in the UAE possibly due to the growing demand for their India brand products among Indians now resident in the UAE. This context provides the opportunity to study the internationalization and entrepreneurship strategies by domestic firms that can leverage the large presence of domestic culture customers in a foreign market. We identify common strategies adopted and implemented by Indian enterprises and entrepreneurs to enter and maintain profitable businesses in the UAE.