Randa Farhat Jul 14, 2004:

in this case you might want to use "parties" ������� in case of contracts -as suggested by "Shazly", and/or ������ in case of politics -as they say on TV, but usually means 'parties �������'!!

Non-ProZ.com Jul 14, 2004:

Randa2 and Doaa Yes, this is what I meant. When the parties are on the same side, as in "education partners" or as in co-owners of a business or co-participants in a joint venture, ���� and ���� are the natural choices. But when the partnership means participating on contractually opposite sides, Arab business practitioners, in their everyday conversations, do not, to my knowledge, use ����. A Saudi Arabian merchant who imports Sri Lankan tea or Cypriot sandals would not refer to his supplier as �����. If he did, people would not understand what he meant, because the term typically means that they jointly own the import business, rather than form two sides, one importing, the other exporting. Why is ���� acceptable for this meaning of "partner" in translation, while hardly understood in indiginous usage?

Randa Farhat Jul 12, 2004:

take a look at this use "���� �� �������" education partners , it's not on trading but on offering technology to schools, yet they name the two parties as 'partners'. http://www.alraialaam.com/12-07-2004/ie5/local.htm#04 (see Education & Microsoft item4)

Non-ProZ.com Jul 12, 2004:

Correction My statement above about "all the answers provided so far" was an overgeneralization. Shazli's answer was certianly an exception to the rule. His answer, for the most part, has avoided ���� and ����, preferring ��� and �����, while acknowledging that ���� and ���� is widely used. Any comments from the others?

Non-ProZ.com Jul 11, 2004:

Clarification Thanks to all for the contributions received so far. I would like to clarify the following points about the question:

1. I am asking for translation suggestions for the phrase "trade partner" (sometimes written "trading partner"). I am not asking about which of the two English expressions is more idiomatic.

2. The reason I am posting the question is that I notice a chasm between expressions acutally used by business people in the conduct of their business and very widely accepted terms used by translators and found in dictionaries.

In business, the word "partner" is often used in reference to a party that has an ownership interest in a business. In that context, Arab business people, at least in the Middle East, use the expression ���� (plural ����).

When, however, they refer to a party with whom or with which they do business on opposite sides (buyer-seller, merchant-customer, or contractor-client), the typical expression is ���� (plural ����).

Yet, dictionaries and translators seem to ignore this prevalent usage altogether, restricting ���� to the meaning covered by the English words "client" and "customer," and using ���� for "partner" regardless of which of the two meanings of "partner" is intended. All the answers provided so far seem to corroborate this usage. Is there a rationale for this usage? Is the commonly used term in the Middle East incorrect? Please feel free to comment. I appreciate everybody's contributions.