Research Methodology
New routes to the Middle East: Perspectives on inward investment and trade is an Economist Intelligence Unit report that gauges the views of companies from emerging and developed markets on doing business in the Middle East. The analysis focuses primarily on 16 Middle Eastern and North African markets: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
In the research for this report, which was commissioned by HSBC, the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a survey in May 2011 of 618 executives with recent experience of doing business in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Respondents were spread equally across five regions: MENA, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, as well as Europe and North America.
The respondents were from 60 countries in total and represent 19 sectors. Nearly one-half (48%) are board level or C-suite executives, and the rest are in senior management positions. Roughly 26% of respondents represent companies with global annual revenue above US$10bn. In addition, we conducted in-depth interviews with a range of senior executives and analysts.