Arab-American Business -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 3/23/2004
Last Visited: 10/5/2005
Bill Aossey, president of Midamar Corp., an Iowa-based exporter of food and food processing equipment, says his company has found the Middle East a profitable market, albeit an unstable one.Midamar Corp. launched operations in the Middle East in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War."There was a major construction boom in the Middle East," says Aossey, explaining his reasons for launching operations in that market at that time."When we started, there was a tremendous demand for food imports and we started to supply the food service industry there."The Arab World has been kind to Midamar Corp. and Aossey, who was born in Lebanon.While 80% of the company's business today consists of exports to various markets abroad, the business climate can change rapidly, a situation Aossey is keenly aware of."It takes a tremendous amount of time (to develop operations) in maturing markets," Aossey says."The real challenge is how to adjust and react to international market conditions.Ten years ago when the Gulf War broke out, markets that took 10 or 12 years to mature were wiped out.Three years ago, our markets in Asia were devastated (by the turmoil in those financial markets).It is challenging and demanding to cope with international situations that we have no control over."Today, Midamar's operations have recovered from those upheavals and most of the company's business again consists of exports to Middle Eastern and Asian countries, Aossey says.
Facing HurdlesBy far, one of the most frustrating experiences concerns the demands and restrictions placed upon exports by foreign governments."Some countries are very supportive of exports and imports," Aossey says."A lot of developing countries, however, put up a lot of restrictions.They will implement import restrictions and guidelines to make it difficult, whether in labeling or product identification or in the sizing of a product."Still, Aossey says, while the restrictions and bureaucratic red tap can be stressful to deal with, he understands the rationale behind such moves, which is most cases concerns protecting domestic producers.
...
"It takes a tremendous amount of time (to develop operations) in maturing markets," Aossey says.