Expected profits of Middle East, Mediterranean information technology companies $6.2 billion

A study released by the European Union commissariat in Cairo said it is expected that the volume of total payments for information technology systems in the Middle East, Mediterranean and North African markets will amount to more than $6.2 billion during the current year in comparison to $4.9 billion in 1998 and about $4 billion in 1997.

The study also recorded an increase in the volume of the information technology market in the Gulf states from $1.48 billion in 1997 to $1.78 billion in 1998, expected to jump to $2.3 billion in 1999.

The reasons behind this increase are the increasing demand for internet and electronic trade, in addition to decreasing taxes in these countries on the region's imports of different technology systems.