The Story
In Sharjah, two principals agreed the key terms of a partnership over coffee. The next morning, a legal director circulated a draft full of protective clauses, written as if the other side might not keep its word. The receiving chairman said nothing. The signing slipped by a month. On her next deal, she opened the cover note differently: "To record what our principals have agreed."

Cultural Principle
In the Gulf, a spoken agreement between principals carries honor. Paperwork that seems to doubt it can wound the person, even when it protects the deal.

Takeaway
Paper everything, but frame the document as the servant of the word. The clauses can stay. The tone that surrounds them decides how they land.

Until next week,
Taqua