The last five years have been a hotbed of innovation and new developments in cross-borders education. Given the increase in demand for higher education, there are new providers, new delivery methods and new types of programs.

They involve higher education providers (including institutions and companies) delivering their courses and programs to students in their home countries. It is resounding evidence that it is no longer just the students who are moving across borders.

Currently, universities are adopting a new approach in their international involvement and intercultural business relations for many reasons, among them, the following:

• Looking for innovative ways of increasing the institutions' financial benefit by getting involved in cross-border education and reaching out for the source of the international educational demand.
• Innovations in information and communication technologies are providing alternative and virtual ways to deliver higher education.
• Alternative types of cross-border program delivery, such as branch campuses and franchise and twinning arrangements, are being developed.
• Expending their experience by customizing their programs to more than one environment proving thereby the globalization of their mission as well as its ability in self-adaptation and suitability to various international demands.
• Gaining worldwide fame by expending their name across their headquarters' borders.
• Emerging successfully by overcoming the fierce and constant competition from national and international sister institutions in the educational field as this cannot be achieved without a persistent and innovative step-ahead.
• Most of the above mentioned points are totally sponsored by the host authorities which saves precious financial amounts for the international provider institutions.

The Arabian Gulf region has the biggest oil reserves and largest free market economy in the world.

It has a continuously expanding domestic market (annual population growth of 3.5 percent). The region has an impressive record of political and economic stability and has a modern world-class infrastructure.

The overall demand for higher and adult education, especially professionally related courses is increasing in most gulf countries. There are a number of reasons for this, among which is:

• The changing demographics, the increased number of secondary school graduates and the movement to lifelong learning.
• The current workforce in these countries is mostly based on foreign nationals. The strategies and mission of the governments is therefore to change this by educating their young population in order to nationalize the workforce.
• The growth of the knowledge economy explained by the huge Public expenditure on education in that region according to World Bank.