I am a Business Development Director for a major Engineering Construction company in the US and a career transit professional. Our company has a large base of operations in MENA, almost one third of our company is based in the region, with plans to grow it to 50%. In December 2010 my boss returned from Doha, Qatar excited about the opportunities for Rail in the country of Qatar.
He said to me "I need two Vice Presidents to go to the Middle East and stand up our rail business". He wanted a sector manager and BD manager to go. One would go where the projects were - one in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the other in Dubai, UAE. The rail opportunities are in Qatar and that is where the BD manager should set up shop.
Of course, with the announcement of the FIFA World Cup going to Qatar in 2022, the Qatari government announced a 70B+ investment in infrastructure - our company, and Engineering Construction company was more then ready to help the country meet its goals.
Always anxious to volunteer and be a part of something exciting I went home and told my wife about it. She thought I was crazy for considering it, but my in law's and son's thought it was an interesting and exciting opportunity and we should pursue it. So, she succumbed to my crazy idea. Of course, she thought it would be a good idea until it became real...
I sent my boss an e-mail in early January 2011 and told my boss - I would go to Qatar. Of course, as life goes he didn't take me up on the offer right away.
In late January I got and e-mail from him asking when I could be in Doha. At that point I was questioning my own sanity, but I offered, so after explaining my current calendar to him, we agreed I would go in mid February to perform an assessment of what our division will need to do to set up shop in this country and build our business in the region.
Oh boy, what was I thinking.
He said to me "I need two Vice Presidents to go to the Middle East and stand up our rail business". He wanted a sector manager and BD manager to go. One would go where the projects were - one in Abu Dhabi, UAE and the other in Dubai, UAE. The rail opportunities are in Qatar and that is where the BD manager should set up shop.
Of course, with the announcement of the FIFA World Cup going to Qatar in 2022, the Qatari government announced a 70B+ investment in infrastructure - our company, and Engineering Construction company was more then ready to help the country meet its goals.
Always anxious to volunteer and be a part of something exciting I went home and told my wife about it. She thought I was crazy for considering it, but my in law's and son's thought it was an interesting and exciting opportunity and we should pursue it. So, she succumbed to my crazy idea. Of course, she thought it would be a good idea until it became real...
I sent my boss an e-mail in early January 2011 and told my boss - I would go to Qatar. Of course, as life goes he didn't take me up on the offer right away.
In late January I got and e-mail from him asking when I could be in Doha. At that point I was questioning my own sanity, but I offered, so after explaining my current calendar to him, we agreed I would go in mid February to perform an assessment of what our division will need to do to set up shop in this country and build our business in the region.
Oh boy, what was I thinking.
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