Episode 15 - Middle East - Interview with Kilian Baelz

Today's guest is Kilian Bälz. Kilian is based in Berlin and Cairo and is a partner with the firm Amereller Legal Consultants, a business law firm with 60 lawyers in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Kilian is a business lawyer who specializes in advising on transactions and disputes across the MENA region. He studied law and Middle Eastern studies at the universities of Freiburg, Berlin, Damascus, Cairo (AUC) and London (SOAS). He has lived and worked in the region for many years. During our interview, Kilian shares with us his belief that the difference in corporate governance in the Middle East is the true challenge for people from other countries when doing business there. He observes that many companies in the Middle East are family-owned, so negotiations tend to take place through agents and have a different dynamic. It is not unusual that the decision maker is not present during the negotiation process. He also points out that personal interactions are more important in the Middle East than the formal written communication often common in Western Europe. Kilian also mentions that as most of these countries are relatively small, their business people are very sophisticated and used to working with people around the world and often more adaptable than those coming from larger, economically dominant countries. At the end of our discussion, Kilian gives us some tips to consider when working with colleagues or clients in the Middle East. You can contact Kilian via email at: [email protected].