Council Post: What Business Leaders Should Consider Before Expanding To Dubai​

Business leaders weighing expansion to Dubai should treat market entry as a long-term strategic decision, not a short-term reaction to headlines. Murad Salikhov, partner at Schwarzwald Capital and serial investor in fintech and creator-economy projects, argues that while capital continues to flow into the United Arab Emirates, organizations must measure whether the region can “support the growth of their operations sustainably and over a prolonged period of time.” He warns that licensing, supervisory expectations and operational costs can quickly erode returns if not planned for in advance.

"Choosing whether to build or expand an organization's presence in Dubai should, therefore, account for potential risks and be tied to solving a strategic challenge, rather than simply finding a 'safe haven,'" Salikhov writes, emphasizing that headline-driven moves are rarely sufficient to justify the expense and complexity of a regional footprint.

Key considerations before committing

Salikhov highlights several concrete areas that executives must evaluate before establishing a presence in Dubai or other UAE jurisdictions:

• Regulatory and licensing regimes: Companies face materially different requirements depending on whether they operate in the mainland UAE, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) or Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Financial services firms should expect divergent supervisory expectations tied to their specific activities.
• Operational costs and scale: Hiring local teams, maintaining office space and navigating banking relationships carry real and recurring expenses. "Building a successful local operation requires a sufficient scale to justify the costs," Salikhov notes.
• Contingency planning: Market entry should be treated like a long-term investment with contingency plans for potential disruptions. Smaller firms, he argues, rarely have budgets for experiments that won't deliver payoffs.
• Regulatory clarity over lightness: Institutional investors increasingly prefer "the 'clearest' [regulation], even if compliance ends up being demanding," Salikhov says, calling clarity and rigorous frameworks a higher priority than minimal oversight.

Salikhov also points to Dubai's practical advantages: its time-zone position and role as a "neutral operating ground" that enables companies to reach Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia within a single business day. He describes financial hubs such as DIFC and ADGM as business-friendly ecosystems where firms can "plug directly into already existing systems," an attractive proposition for entities seeking established legal and operational infrastructure.

On policy alignment, Salikhov highlights the UAE’s broader strategic moves, including its exit from OPEC, as evidence of shifting priorities toward "greater autonomy in energy markets" and a direction emphasizing independence, flexibility and long-term growth.

Outlook

For leaders considering Dubai, the decision should not be framed as insulating their organization from global uncertainty. "The point should be deciding whether this region provides the right foundation to support their business over the horizon of at least the next five years," Salikhov advises. In short, the choice to expand to Dubai must be anchored in a clear strategic objective, sufficient scale to absorb set-up and operating costs, and rigorous planning for regulatory and operational contingencies.