Professor Ballantyne urges anyone who wants to do business in the Arab countries to acquaint themselves, from the very first, with the facts of the legal position there, rather than rely on what others tell them to be the case on the basis of the way in which the law has, or has not, been enforced in the past.
It is essential to conduct business on the basis of a water-tight contract, drawn in Arabic, which includes, where appropriate, clauses concerning arbitration and choice of law which do not conflict with any enactment in the local law which may exclude the efficacy of these clauses, and which takes advantage of any concessions or exemptions which may be available.
Also, business people in Arab countries are urged to be extremely careful in choosing local representatives, companies or directors, and to ensure that the terms they lay down about the control that their shareholders exercise are observed. In this essential volume, which gathers together many of Professor Ballantyne's earlier writings along with essays on recent developments, the background for such an exercise of prudence is provided to the reader.
The book is indispensable to businessmen comtemplating doing business in the Arab world, and to students of Arab commercial life. Professor Ballantyne is also the author of Commercial Law in the Arab Middle East and Legal Development in Arabia.