Sharjah wants to shake things up. But first an introduction may be in order.
The world knows the Emirates brand name largely because it is seen daily, emblazoned in red letters, on a fleet of globe-girdling luxury airliners coursing to and from Dubai. But there is much more to United Arab Emirates beyond Dubai's formidable 24-hour air hub. Sharjah, the often quiet but third-largest of seven UAE members, is inviting new attention, starting with a blue-ribbon trade and tourism mission to the United States in September and October.
Even seasoned globetrotters may have overlooked Sharjah until now. Situated near Dubai on the peninsula that juts north into the Strait of Hormuz, Sharjah is the only emirate with shoreline on both the Persian Gulf, to the west, and the eastward Indian Ocean. It styles itself the cultural capital and industrial hub of the UAE, with some justification; Sharjah's economy is based on chemicals and plastics manufacturing, mining, and financial services as well as oil and gas. (In fact, Sharjah has exported oil only since 1974.)
Economic growth is robust at more than 13% per annum through most of the last decade. The 800,000 citizens are remarkably productive and well-educated - the national literacy rate is 92 percent, above both UAE and global averages. Sharjah was the first UAE member to educate women, and the University of Sharjah attracts more than 10,000 students from across the UAE and the Arab world.
The UAE is the United States' largest trading partner, taking in $22.5 billion in US exports in 2012. The United Arab Emirates has truly emerged as a global crossroads, said US Ambassador to the UAE Michael Corbin, fueled by the country's transportation links, world-class tourist facilities, and the energy of its entrepreneurship.
Still, however, there's a sense that Sharjah's own story has gone largely untold overseas, and that many American business interests have yet to assess this well-situated base for operations in the Middle East and North Africa.
The current trade mission to Washington, D.C. and New York marks a new, explicit attempt to carve a unique identity for Sharjah within the UAE, and a direct appeal to US interests to consider the merits of Sharjah in particular. It's a direct awareness tactic similar to those used by entrepreneurially-minded American states like Alabama and South Carolina to woo European auto factories.
The mission is led by Sheikh Sultan Bin Ahmed Al Qassimi, of Sharjah's royal family; Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority; and Ameera BinKaram, President of the Executive Committee of the Sharjah Business Women Council.
It may surprise Americans that women are playing a big role in Sharjah's economic resurgence, said BinKaram. We invite our friends in America to come to Sharjah, set aside any preconceptions, and discover for themselves all that Sharjah has to offer.
How does Sharjah distinguish itself from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the best-known UAE states? Mission leaders emphasize Sharjah's ready, qualified workforce and quantitative economic advantages for investors, including tax-friendly economic free zones and lower capital requirements and customs duties.
Then there's a cultural dimension largely undiscovered by the West. A visitor expecting another futuristic needle-spiked Middle Eastern skyline will find plenty of modernity in Sharjah City, but the real estate's been settled for 5,000 years and antiquities abound. Heritage areas are well-preserved and open for inspection. In the context of history, Sharjah's 16th century Portuguese forts are a comparatively recent landscape feature.
Industrious, ambitious, welcoming, simultaneously modern and ancient: this is the Sharjah most Westerners have yet to discover. Perhaps it is high time. If this fall's trade delegation to US media centers inspires even a few Americans to Google Sharjah, scan the skyline, admire the beaches, and weigh the benefits of investing, selling or working there, it will have begun to fulfill its mission - and Sharjah's potential.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
Sharjah wants to shake things up. But first an introduction may be in order.
