Event Details
For three of the past four years, the main business risk facing companies operating in the Middle East has been "cash flow, liquidity and slow payments", according to CEOs.
The EICN's annual Business Outlook Survey is conducted in eight locations around the world and asks business leaders to name their top business risks - the things that keep them awake at night. And nowhere other than the Middle East does slow payments rank even in the top five.
Collections teams are clearly busier and more challenged here than in any other geography. So what is the peculiarly Middle Eastern problem with paying and getting paid?
Is it a cultural phenomenon - an inshallah thing whereby custom and practice tolerates 30-day invoices going unpaid for six months or more?
Is it a legal and regulatory failure, with regional governments themselves not adhering to contractual payment terms and causing knock-on effects and copycat behaviours down the supply chain?
Or are minor disputes being over-used as an excuse to delay payments?
Join us, and a team of banking, finance and legal experts, including Naief Yahia, Partner and Head of Litigation at Al Tamimi & Co to explore this frustrating topic, the causes and effects of slow payments, and potential solutions (or at least mitigations). We will also look more broadly at dispute resolution and the role of arbitration, mediation, and litigation in resolving payment disputes.
12 noon: Arrival, registration, lunch and networking
12.45pm: Roundtable discussion: Slow Payments and Dispute Resolution
2pm: Close and networking
Please note that this event is limited to senior-level executives and per invitation only. If you are not an existing member of The Economist Intelligence Corporate Network, but would like to learn how you can attend our events, please contact us.