Appointing an Agent in the Middle East

4 October 2005

Giles Dixon, ContractStore's MD, was in Cairo last weekend at a lawyers conference, and he has this tip for those of you doing business in the Middle East.

"Avoid signing anything that will be registered with the local Industry of Commerce, or its equivalent."

Most Middle Eastern states have a Commercial Agents Registry, which traditionally you have to work with in order to do business in those states. Recently however, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries have become members of the World Trade Organisation, which imposes new free trade rules. Eventually the restrictions which apply in many Middle Eastern countries, requiring either that a national is appointed as agent, or that nationals have to have shares in a locally formed company, (sometimes as much as 51%) are being eroded.

It is therefore no longer as important to have your agreement registered - and because of the difficulties in extracting your business from an unsatisfactory agent, it is strongly advised that you have a contract that you have negotiated and is not subject to local law. If your agent suggests that you need to register your agreement, seek legal advice and aim to negotiate a contract of your own. We have a contract on our site, A101, also distributorship and others that will help you with this. Avoid registration until you have checked whether it is in fact still a legal requirement.

If you are doing business in the Middle East, we have an extensive network of legal contacts that can advise you so please get in touch with your query.