Wiley Opens Office in Dubai
December saw the opening of our Dubai office and Wiley's first formal presence in the Middle East. The office's location in the heart of Dubai Media City, the United Arab Emirates' main international publishing and broadcasting district, is ideal for all activities, including calling on key institutions such as the Higher College of Technology (HCT) and retail customers such as Kinokuniya. It also offers easy access to the main roads to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Importantly, it also sits near the brand new high-speed metro link to Dubai International Airport—the Middle East’s largest hub—with direct flights to key cities in the region including Riyadh and Tehran, as well as Delhi, Singapore, Frankfurt, London, and New York.
The establishment of this base needs to be seen in the wider context of our engagement with the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council: Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain) and the Middle East. This region is one of our key "high-growth markets," where economic, demographic, and educational factors create a promising long-term outlook for all of our businesses. There are three phases to the role of this office, which can be encapsulated as objectives:
- To sell more of what we have across business and format. Our sales activities so far have established a strong base from which a "local" capability can build higher market penetration and maintain the impressive growth we have enjoyed over the last decade. It also enables us to work more directly with customers and less through intermediaries.
- To deepen our understanding of this complex market and its needs. The vast investments in education, research, and professional training that are being made will favor content and solutions that best correspond to the specific needs of the region. This office will become a company resource to assist relevant publishing and marketing activities.
- To explore opportunities to customize and localize what we have and provide content and services that better answer the region's requirements. In certain instances this could also mean creating content, solutions, and services specifically for the region. We would also look at drawing more authorship and contribution in disciplines where there is local excellence.
Matt Santaspirt, Sales and Market Development Manager, has relocated to Dubai, and the search is under way for a sales representative and a WileyPLUS account manager, both Arabic speakers. Establishing an office in a place where there is no existing local infrastructure has been a major project. Now the work begins!
