Those considering business venture in region could benefit from this guide

The Arab World Unbound
Vijay Mahajan
Jossey-Bass

This handy entrepreneurial guide to the Middle East and North Africa seeks to encourage business owners to view the regional market as a valuable source of profit. Of course, there are obstacles to overcome in the form of media-fuelled stereotypes and the ever-shifting balance of tradition versus modernity.

The Arab world, as viewed by the author Vijay Mahajan, presents its own unique array of market dynamics that differ from country to country, city to city, and in some cases, even from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. Having spent two years travelling in most of the Arab League countries, Mahajan's efforts go towards reconfiguring a more progressive picture of a region that paves the way for a representation of the Arab citizen as a consumer, a portrait that has even Mahajan pleasantly surprised.

For long-term residents of the Middle East, little of the book's contents should come as a revelation. But its uniqueness among business guides aimed at a western demographic make it a must-read for those hoping to strike it big in the region.