Ask Ali: Emails won’t always do the business with Emiratis

Cultural factors influence behaviour in the business environment in the region.

Dear Ali: I've noticed most of my business communications with Emiratis are more successful when I meet them in person or discuss matters over the phone, but how can I encourage my business partners to reply to emails and make a deal without the need to meet or call? ET, Abu Dhabi

Dear ET: You're not the first person to notice this way of doing business in the region, where some cultural factors influence behaviour in the business environment.

English isn’t the mother tongue for Arab businessmen, although the majority speak it fluently. It doesn’t mean, however, they can write it as proficiently. Written English differs from the spoken form. So when you communicate face to face, it will be understood better.

Written language can bring a lot of possibilities for misunderstandings. That’s why I would avoid complicated emails. If you need to write an email to your Emirati business partner, I would suggest you keep it as short as possible. The meaning should be clear and straight to the point. If your email needs to be long and detailed, try at least to keep the sentences short.

Another important thing is to use a nice form of addressing people, starting by asking how they’re doing and wishing them all the best. The person should feel they’re respected and important when reading your email.

If you succeed, you will get a reply over email straight away. If not, your partner might give you a call to clarify anything that wasn’t clear in the email. In both cases, the most important thing is to keep a polite tone at all times.

Dear Ali: Is a car considered a public space, where you're not allowed to eat or drink during Ramadan fasting hours? JJ, Ras Al Khaimah

Dear JJ: Good question. If the car is tinted, then no one would really see what you are doing inside it, right? But who said we don't eat or drink during Ramadan? It's only adults who are obliged to fast.

Each Emirati and/or Muslim family will have some kind of eating or drinking activities in their car during Ramadan, but it’s with a different category of people – babies who need to drink milk or little ones who might feel thirsty or scream wanting to have potato chips to eat while drinking an orange juice.

Now all that activity would take place inside the car, but when this happens, no other Muslims will be upset or mad, simply because in Islam certain people are exempt from fasting.

But when an adult, be they a Muslim or otherwise, starts eating in the car, if it’s not covered or tinted, this comes across to many as disrespectful – and in some places it’s a violation.

Say, for example, you’re driving in the middle of the city, and you stop at a traffic light and want to drink water or chew gum. No one can stop you, but I would always advise people to be culturally sensitive and considerate to society overall and to show respect to our faith and rituals.

And everyone knows consuming food or beverages in public in front of others isn’t allowed.

So if you’re parked somewhere far away from anybody else and want to eat in your car, please go ahead, but make sure you don’t taunt others when doing so by being seen eating or drinking in public.

Ali Al Saloom is a cultural adviser and public speaker from the UAE. Follow @AskAli on Twitter, and visit www.ask-ali.com to ask him a question.