Daily Intentions: Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce

This morning we drove from Dubai to Abu Dhabi- about an hour and a half drive in our little tour bus. We had our morning visit with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce. Their mission statement is: "We are the private sector representative working to advocate policies, connect businesses and expand member opportunities by providing world-class member services, with an aim to contribute to Abu Dhabi's sustainable economic development."

Basically, the Commerce is a central place for entrepreneurs to get everything they need to start their business. They issue trade names, licenses, permits and they offer business consulting services to their members.

What is unique about the UAE is that in order to start a business, it must be 51% Emirati owned. This means that foreign businesses need to find sponsors or set up their business within the free zones. The zones have loose labor laws, no taxes and 100% company ownership. Outside of the zones however, new businesses must follow the UAE laws requiring a certain percent of national employees and a few other restrictions. The classifieds can actually specify "looking for an Emerati male or female." The Commerce helps foreign and local owners understand these laws. The laws I found the most interesting were the following articles:

Articles 9- Work is a right of UAE nationals and priority in employment will be given to Arab nationals and then workers of other nationalities.
Article 20- It is not permitted to employ juveniles from both sexes under the age of 15 years.
Article 27Women may not be asked to work at night from 10 PM to 7 AM.
Article 32Women shall get the same wage as men if they do the same job.

Dairy Queen would have been a totally different job for me at age 15 if it had been exclusively women and I can't imagine if the US work hours ended at 10pm for women. How would our restaurants, hospitals, and care facilities operate? I assume this law must make a few exceptions or else put all night jobs in the free zones.

Noora, an kind and very intelligent Emirati woman, gave us our tour of the building and then invited us to Arabic coffee (which is actually made of leaves not beans). My favorite part of the tour is when she showed us the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen's Council & Mubdiah. The purpose of the council is to help National women start up small businesses. One woman happened to be consulting at the time and she showed us the abyas she designs. They were black with beautiful intricate embroidery along the sleeves and neckline. Some of the other businesses include perfume, make up and other items hand made on a small scale. Noora spoke very passionately about empowering women to work and I found our conversation very relaxed and similar to a discussion in the US about women's labor rights.