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Qatar

For B/L to Qatar, POD must be shown as HAMAD PORT, QATAR and FND must be shown as HAMAD PORT, AL WAKRA, QATAR;

The customs of destination port does not accept the goods of bill of lading as vehicles over 5 years old.

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bahrain
Consignee's company name, address, city, country and telephone number in bahrain must be provided and shown on bill of lading.

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Oman
The name, address, city, country and contact information of the consignee and the notifier must be provided and shown on the bill of lading.

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Jordan
All shipments to Jordan must be provided with a 4-digit HS CODE and shown in the description.
If the cargo is mixed and involves different HSCODES, please send cargo information separately according to HSCODE.

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Israel
Company name, address, city, country and VAT Number or ID Number of shipper, consignee and notifying party must be provided and shown on B/L.
If the consignee is TOORDER, be sure to provide the company name, address, city, country and VAT Number or ID Number of the shipper and the notifying party as shown on the B/L;

The consignee or notifier must be a local company in Israel;

All shipments to and from Israel must have a 6-digit HSCODE;
If the cargo is mixed and different HS codes are involved, please send cargo information separately according to HS CODE.

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Saudi Arabia

Transshipment from Saudi Arabia to other countries is not acceptable, so when the B/L sample is sent, there can be no terms related to transshipment in the description of goods.

The consignee and notifying person of the bill of lading shall show the complete company name, address and contact telephone number;

The VAT number of the consignee shall be provided.

The same consignee is only allowed to import one car within two years, and the car age can not exceed 5 years;

One bill of lading does not accept FCL and partial boxes (partial boxes are used for multiple bills of lading).

Dangerous Goods to Dammam cannot show the following terms on the Bill of Lading,
Cargomove to Dammam Bonded Free Zone;
Free Zone.
Move to DBFZ;

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Kuwait

The consignee and notifier on the bill of lading need to show the correct contact number;

The same consignee is allowed to import only one car within two years, and the car age can not exceed five years.

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United Arab Emirates
Skid and Bundle packaging units are not accepted;

Individuals are only allowed to import one car (new or used) a year;

For bill of lading to united Arab emirates, port of discharge must show final port of discharge.

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Algeria

The NIF Code (Numero d 'Identification Fiscale) should be shown in the consignee, notifier or description of the bill of lading;

Sea freight must be paid at the port of shipment, not accepted at the port of destination.

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Turkey
Must provide the consignee's VAT number;

All shipments to Turkey and transshipment here must have at least 4 HS codes;
If the cargo is mixed and different HS codes are involved, please send cargo information separately according to HS CODE.

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Egypt
The additional charges at the destination port shall be settled locally in Egypt;

At least one party of the consignee or notifier is a local Egyptian company.

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Morocco
The Common identifier of the company and TaxIdentification of the consignee shall be provided and displayed on the bill of lading;
If the consignee is To Order, the Commonidentifier of the company and Tax Identification of the notifier shall be provided and displayed on the bill of lading.

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Sudan
Sea freight settlement in Sudan is not acceptable;
The import of the following goods into the Sudan is prohibited.
Meat Products
Live Animals
Milk productions except dry milk powder &infant milk
All kind of juices
Halva
Fish
Fruits
Vegetables
Cocoa preparations
Macaroni & Vermicelli
Vegetables Oil, except Edible Oil which is notrefined.
Artificial flowers
Plaits Products
Toys, Games and Sports requisites.
Pet Birds
Flowers & Branches
Sun Umbrella& Sun Shade
Detergents
Sponge mattresses

Full solutions to Middle East customers and Middle East market ★

Because of its huge potential and special business habits, the Middle East has always been a tempting and mysterious market for Chinese enterprises.
This article chooses Guo Yonggang, President of SY International Trading Company of United Arab Emirates, to share his experience.
He believes that due to the low penetration of the Middle East market, Chinese products occupy the Middle East market with an absolute advantage, and there will be more opportunities in the future.

1. What is the current situation of Chinese products in the Middle East

The Middle East market usually refers to the 9 countries surrounding the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea and the surrounding Arab countries, with a total population of nearly 700 million and per capita annual income ranging from US $30,000-40,000 in countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to US $5,000-6,000 in countries such as Iran, Iraq and Yemen.
These Arab countries are basically dependent on imports for light industry, daily use and electronic products, and the prices of products are generally at a medium and low level.

More than 80% of the goods to and from the Middle East pass through Dubai of the United Arab Emirates for transshipment, and at the same time radiate to most countries in Africa.
As the largest port in the Middle East, Dubai, with favorable duty-free policies and free trade environment, has become the largest wholesale trade market for entrepot exports to Africa and neighboring Gulf countries, with a trade population of 1.3 billion.

Businesspeople from more than 30 countries in Africa are here to purchase goods for daily use, light industry, electrical appliances, clothing and so on.
Usually, 75% of the import transaction amount is re-exported to the African market, 20% to the surrounding Gulf countries, and 5% is directly consumed in the UAE.

Chinese products are well known in the world for their high quality and low price. As the world's largest light industry, China's electrical appliances, clothing and other products occupy the entire Middle East market with an absolute advantage.

Although the European and American markets are the most developed and mature markets in the world at present, the competition in this market is very fierce, the market tends to be saturated, coupled with the restrictions of high import tariffs and trade barriers, it is difficult for latecomers or small and medium-sized enterprises to enter.
In today's world, the Middle East and Africa market is a hot market full of business opportunities and good prospects.

2. What are the business opportunities in the Middle East market

The purchasing power of the Middle East countries is basically slightly higher than that of the general Asian countries, and the price difference of the same product between regions is basically kept between 6%-30%, which is very helpful for Chinese enterprises that have no foreign trade experience to explore overseas markets.

After entering the Middle East market, Chinese enterprises can constantly adjust their product mix and quality requirements, and meanwhile accumulate a lot of export experience, which will prepare them for opening more markets in the future.

The Middle East market has a large quantity of products. As long as you pay attention to the buyer's letter of credit terms and make a good investigation of customer reputation in advance, you can settle the exchange safely.

According to the characteristics and requirements of the Middle East market, the entry target and product category positioning have been determined. What Chinese enterprises should do is to fulfill the international trade rules in accordance with international practices.

3. The position of the UAE and Dubai in Middle East trade

You can't talk about the Middle East without mentioning the United Arab Emirates and Dubai.
Dubai is one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. It is located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula and has an important strategic position. It is a transportation artery and trade hub between the East and the West.
Every day tens of thousands of containers are transshipped through Dubai.
As the largest port in the Middle East, you can find businessmen from 120 countries all over the world in Dubai, they shuttle back and forth in the Middle East all the year round, engaged in the trade of goods.

Foreign trade plays an important role in the UAE economy.
The country joined the World Trade Organization in 1995.
Imports mainly include grain, machinery and consumer goods.
Afghanistan accounts for a large proportion of entrepot trade and has trade contacts with more than 100 countries and regions. It has signed bilateral trade agreements and double taxation avoidance agreements with more than 40 countries.

According to incomplete statistics, the annual trade volume between China and the United Arab Emirates alone reached $60 billion in 2016.
However, due to the shortage of natural resources, in addition to other products, besides oil and gas from industrial raw materials, equipment items are dependent on imports to civilian life, therefore, the government has adopted a policy of open to free trade, no trade barriers, no foreign exchange control and its management institution, foreign exchange from the authorized Banks unlimited, not a company or enterprise profits tax and business tax regulation, no income tax, value-added tax, consumption tax and the intermediate links of various tax, profits can be remitted freely.
With the exception of very few goods, such as cigarettes and alcohol, tariffs on most goods are only 1-4%.

4. What is the Saudi market like

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Saudi economy has maintained steady growth.
From 2001 to 2014, Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of 5.22%.
According to the forecast of the World Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia's economic growth rate will maintain at around 4.3% from 2015 to 2019.

The investment climate in Saudi Arabia is good.
Saudi Arabia was ranked 82nd in the World Bank's Doing Business 2016 report, down sharply from the previous year, but still one of the most popular Arab countries for investors.

The Saudi Investment Agency was established in 2000 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi government has also issued a series of preferential policies and measures, such as income tax reduction, preferential land rent, supporting infrastructure and so on.
Over the next decade, Saudi Arabia's total investment in major projects will reach nearly $700 billion.
More than $100 billion of the investment will be used to support domestic infrastructure development, especially in transportation and logistics.

Saudi Arabia has greater investment potential.
With steady economic growth and rapid population growth, Saudi Arabia has considerable investment potential in energy, transportation and logistics, information and communication, health care, life sciences, human capital and other fields.

In recent years, in order to reduce the dependence on the oil sector, stimulate economic growth and solve the high level of unemployment in the country, the government has also planned to invest huge financial and material resources in education, manpower, infrastructure construction and other fields. This is a good time for foreign investors to participate in the construction of investment in Saudi Arabia.

5. What are the business habits of Middle Eastern businessmen

The Middle East market is a trade market mainly focused on order and spot. Spot trade is to open chain stores, and the profit limit of chain stores is about 20%-30%, while the profit limit of order trade is generally between 6%-10%.

Customers in the Middle East usually order according to samples and ask for prices from multiple parties. If there is no quotation result within 3-5 working days, the quotation will become invalid by itself.
The form of negotiation transaction is relatively simple, whether the product is concluded or not depends entirely on the price and quality, as well as the reputation level of the supplier company.

In spot trade and order trade, buyers and sellers will basically trade goods on the premise of equality and justice, and commercial letters of credit will probably be issued from world-famous big banks such as HSBC and Citibank.
At the same time, the product quality clause will be indicated in the contract.

Guo Yonggang found the following characteristics in dealing with local Middle Eastern Arabs:

(1) The Arabs are impatient, and they are very sensitive to the consistency of samples and quality. Once the delivery date is delayed and there are quality problems, the supplier will either face price reduction or claim for compensation, which is of great importance.

(2) Arabs show their friendliness and hospitality to any customer, but when it comes to the price and other key factors, if you can't come up with a convincing reason to persuade him, he won't give up on the price at all.

(3) Arabs attach great importance to the communication with friends. A good relationship can have a vital impact on the success of business, so daily friendly reciprocity is essential.

The Art of War says: "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can win a hundred battles without danger". Only by fully understanding the psychology and characteristics of customers in the Middle East can you have the final opportunity to make a deal and open up the Middle East market.

6. How to take orders in foreign trade

(1) First of all, Chinese enterprises should carefully understand the Middle East market and customer background through various channels, do not rush to send regular samples, and consider to enter the market in a orderly way after fully understanding customer requirements.

(2) After Chinese enterprises enter the Middle East market, for the customer's inquiry, do not easily reduce the price.
Middle East importers mostly use multi-party inquiry, take its price is low, so the enterprise should consider in a reasonable profit range, do a good job of after-sales service.
In the contract inquiry list, list the detailed features of the product, including the quality guarantee period, is the product quotation includes the original added value and after-sales guarantee two parts.

(3) Middle East importers generally require to see the sample transaction, even they have imported goods, before the transaction is still required to see the sample, so China's exhibitors or inspectors pay attention to the promotion of light goods, must carry samples;
For the promotion of huge goods, it is best to have pictures, samples and detailed text description.

(4) pay attention to the speed of quotation.
Importers in the Middle East generally require prompt quotation. If there is no reply after a delay of one or two days, the merchant may lose interest immediately and go elsewhere to make an inquiry.
Because there are many import channels in the Middle East, the competition for similar commodities is fierce.

(5) Even if a domestic manufacturer has established a relationship of trust with a Middle Eastern merchant, it is better not to release the goods easily to avoid losses caused by the failure of the other side to pay for the goods.
If you have an office in the Middle East, things will be very easy to solve: the balance will be paid after the bill of lading is made, and the bill of lading will be handed over to the client after the office, so there is basically no risk.
Without offices, traditional foreign trade will use TT or letter of credit, for foreign trade e-commerce friends to choose more ways, such as Paypal, Huanxunfeng, etc.
However, Middle East businessmen are not used to using L/C. For a relatively small amount, they use forward TT.
Large amount of general use of deposit combined with TT.

7. What are the risks to be aware of

Most Middle Eastern countries are constrained by resources such as oil and gas.
For example, Saudi Arabia's domestic economy is excessively dependent on the oil sector, and its domestic macro economy and government finances are extremely vulnerable to the rise and fall of oil prices.
The oil and gas industry contributes more than 50% of Saudi Arabia's GDP, around 80% of its current account, and 90% of its fiscal revenue.
If oil and gas prices fluctuate significantly, it will affect the overall economic environment and trade policies in the region.

In addition, geopolitical risks in the Middle East need to be highlighted.

Iraq has been Mired in a long period of war and instability since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Since 2011, Egypt, Libya, Syria and other major countries that used to have stable political situation have experienced long-term political instability, resulting in an endless stream of violence and terrorist incidents.
Rioting also continues in neighboring Yemen.
Today, regional tensions, sparked by a row over severing diplomatic ties with Qatar, are casting a pall over the economies of the Middle East.
Therefore, Chinese enterprises entering the Middle East must pay attention to the risk of terrorism in the region.

To sum up, the Middle East is a hot land worth exploring and exploring, but the political risks in the region will likely bring a series of other economic and trade-related risks.
Therefore, it is very necessary for Chinese enterprises to visit more Middle East countries before investing in the Middle East.