Donald L Van Stone

'Perhaps you should really ask what the general manager for the Middle East was doing in Brussels?' he replies. Mr Van Stone was visiting Dubai in early May for an annual meeting with more than 350 bankers, which was held in the Burj Al Arab Hotel.

'The real answer is the Middle East is growing in terms of the number of card holders, volume of business and types of product, so we need to be nearer to the market. We have been spending an awful lot of time on planes visiting the region and needed a base.'

From October Mr Van Stone will be relocating his operation to the Dubai Internet City. A number of senior MasterCard executives will be joining him from Brussels, and the full office complement will be over 30, including local recruits.

'The basic level of card penetration is very low in this region, and we will have to focus on that, as well as developing the services we offer to existing members.

'We will have the largest concentration of specialists in the Middle East in the Dubai Internet City, and will be able to show our clients how to achieve better results. All the marketing for the region will be centralised here, but what we want to do most is improve the capability of our clients.

'This is a matter of teaching them how to fish, rather than doing the fishing ourselves. We believe this is a far more effective way to expand our presence in the region, and to deliver more value to our customers'.

However, MasterCard also has a huge global sponsorship programme, and sponsors World Championship Soccer, the PGA golf championship, Major League Baseball and Formula One racing. This programme ensures that MasterCard remains in the public eye.

Mr Van Stone joined MasterCard in 1994 after a 22-year banking career that has taken him to every corner of the world. He says he is looking forward to working in Dubai, as well as trying the golf courses of the city.

'The relocation to Dubai will better position MasterCard alongside those companies working to derive maximum advantage from the digital economy,' he says. 'We enjoy a position as leader in delivering the most cutting edge, secure payment technologies available today, and we intend to leverage this strength further here in the Middle East'.

Dubai will doubtless give its newest recruit to its growing financial services' community a warm welcome in the autumn, and perhaps the odd invitation for a round of golf.