Settling into an interview with Marwan Bin Jassim Al Sarkal, the man in charge of luring foreign investors to Sharjah, it becomes evident that both tensions and ties bond the emirate with neighbouring Dubai.
On the one hand Sharjah is cast into the shadows, often overlooked by businesses and visitors. On the other hand, the bigger brother’s international standing is helping the emirate of 1.5 million people to attract more foreign direct investment than other places of a similar size.
The double-edged sword predicament is not lost on Al Sarkal as he attempts to define Sharjah by differentiating it.
“What makes Sharjah so special is it’s so close to Dubai but yet so different when it comes to its identity,” he says. “We didn’t try to copy what Dubai is doing, we tried to complement them.”
Becoming the underdog is a tough position to accept for an emirate that was historically the first port of call for doing business in the UAE, whether as a foreigner or a local setting up. Sharjah established the UAE’s first airport and the first container port.
Forty years later, the situation has vastly changed. But the emirate is attempting to play a quick catch up. It has announced a multitude of master projects intended to not only expand existing industries but create new areas of investment.
They include a healthcare free zone, a research and technology park, a media free zone, a new property developer (Omran Properties) and multiple tourism developments. Additionally, the emirate is pushing for new businesses in sectors such as the environment, publishing and logistics.
As CEO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), Al Sarkal says the smaller emirate is attempting to bask, not bake, in the limelight of its neighbour.
Sharjah is expanding its tourism offering by focussing on cultural experiences, including the Central Souq.
“It’s not a drawback that Sharjah is unknown, it’s an opportunity for a lot of people to get to know Sharjah,” Al Sarkal, who was born in Dubai, says. “But I think it’s our duty, with my colleagues in the government, to promote Sharjah. Some people don’t want to be in Dubai, they think it’s not the right place for them, they think Sharjah is a better place, or Ajman. So it all depends on who are you dealing with.”
But when Al Sarkal took responsibility for promoting Sharjah abroad in 2009, he was confronted with a brick wall: no one knew where he was talking about. That has been gradually changing since the establishment of Shurooq, but Al Sarkal says being third rung on the ladder, behind Dubai and Abu Dhabi, sets a tough uphill climb.
“We found that a lot of people had no clue about the other five emirates; it’s like they didn’t even exist,” Al Sarkal says of the early days of Shurooq, referring to the smaller of the UAE’s seven emirates.
“Our opportunity was to showcase Sharjah. And not just to whoever came to Dubai, but coming up with new players that are planning to come to the region but are not aware about the other opportunities [outside Dubai and Abu Dhabi].”
For seven years, Shurooq has been door knocking across Europe, North America and Asia in a bid to promote itself as a business destination — both independently worthy and as a strategic location near an international hub.
Sharjah opened its first international office in London earlier this year and has held ‘Sharjah Day’ and ‘Invest in Sharjah’ events in China, London, Berlin, Seoul and Milan.
“Now we pick up the phone and everybody knows us,” Al Sarkal says. “The more they hear Sharjah the more they’re going to send their colleagues or friends here.”
FROM: m.arabianbusiness.com