Gitex Saudi targets largest IT market in the Gulf

The Gitex Reseller Channel Forum to be held alongside the first ever Gitex Saudi 2002 has already attracted over 250 resellers from all over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), a month before the actual opening of the show. The Forum is organized by ITP, publishers of 15 market leading titles.

Created to complement and enhance the IT trade opportunities at Gitex Saudi, the Channel Forum is considered to be the largest dedicated channel event in the region and will be held from April 22 to 25, 2002. It offers an optimum platform for channel personnel, IT professionals and major IT vendors to meet and discuss issues of mutual interest and educate the resellers about the new trends in information technology. The Forum is of particular interest to anyone seeking new or additional Channel Partners in Saudi and throughout the Middle East, International IT vendors seeking to expand or strengthen channel ties through training and education programs in addition to Arabic software developers and web designers seeking business partners in Saudi Arabia, GCC and Levant markets. It is expected to be attended by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Corporate Solution Providers, PC Assemblers, System Integrators as well as IT vendors and distributors.

"Saudi Arabia currently represents over 40 per cent of the Middle East Information Technology market and it is still growing. We feel that this is the right time to target the resellers in the region and create a significant platform for them to interact freely with the channel partners and vendors," said Walid Akawi, Publisher, ITP. "The initial response to ITP's Reseller Channel Forum at Gitex Saudi has been phenomenal and is clearly evidence that the reputation of the event has already preceded it in the Kingdom."

Gitex Saudi has been ideally positioned to directly target the Saudi IT industry for the first time this year as Saudi Arabia has witnessed a tremendous surge in the development and usage of information technology in recent years and can now be considered the biggest IT market in the Gulf region. According to a recent study, the IT spending in the Middle East region will be more than US $ 4.6 billion in the year 2002 with a large percentage of this being attributed to Saudi Arabia.

Although the Kingdom was a late entrant into the Internet scene, it has recently recorded an extraordinary demand for Internet related software, hardware and services. E-Commerce has also witnessed a spiralling growth with over 600,000 new Internet subscribers and there is an ever-increasing demand for efficient network and e-commerce solutions. The growth rate in the areas of communications, Internet applications, POS hardware and mobile computing, is now projected at 20 per cent annually. While applications software is the chief growth segment, the Saudi market for computers, peripherals, software and IT consultancy continues to be the largest in the Middle East totaling a colossal US $ 800 million in annual sales.

The Kingdom is also currently implementing a five-year massive initiative, first launched in September 2000, to equip over 21,000 schools with PC equipment, networks and peripherals. The program is expected to expand the user base dramatically, as well as the number of Internet users.

Gitex Saudi to be held in Riyadh.