November 26, 2006

GITEX & GULFCOMMS END ON ALL TIME HIGH WITH MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RECORD VISITORS


Trade Visitor Count Exceeds 130,000 At Regions Largest IT and Telecoms Event

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

GITEX 2006 with its new telecoms positioning, GULFCOMMS came to a close yesterday with over 130,000 visitors reaffirming its standing as one of the world’s top IT and telecoms events and the regions most powerful networking and business platform

“We are extremely delighted to play host to over 130,000 visitors from around the world at GITEX and GULFCOMMS. This year’s event has provided the occasion for the announcement of many major launches and the conclusion of numerous business deals by the international IT and Telecoms community. We are proud to play a part in contributing to the growth of the dynamic industry in this region,” said DWTC Director General, Helal Saeed Al Marri

Symantec’s Regional Director MEA, Kevin Isaac was happy that his company’s three-fold objectives were met through their participation at GITEX commenting, “We have maintained and built new relationships during the show and have met our key partners in the region as well as display our latest technology and products.”

Atul Verma, Senior Manager Marketing at LG Electronics Gulf FZE, confirmed that their company’s presence at GITEX “has helped us break through to new industry segments as we have received numerous commercial inquiries from the real estate sector and hospitality industry.”

Samsung Gulf Electronics’ Senior Marketing Manager, Raafatullah Khan stated that their company was expanding its business throughout the MEA region and their objective of participation at GITEX was to target the MEA trade visitors. “We significantly expanded our presence at the show and have networked with our partners, distributors and other end users giving them an opportunity to experience our technologically sound products.”

Commenting on GULFCOMMS Joseph Mehawaj, Business Development Manager of Nortel remarked that their company endorsed the new telcoms focus of the show and said, “We are extremely pleased with the formation of GULFCOMMS and by creating a clearly segmented area, we are now receiving more targeted and genuine inquiries and are better able to serve new and existing clients rather than having to deal with walk-in visitors,” he stressed.

Korea Telecom’ Manager for Overseas IT Business, Dong-Heon- Kang said, “We are just branching out in the UAE market and GULFCOMMS has been the perfect platform for us as we seek new partners for our services in the region.”

Juniper Networks Regional Director MEA, Mohamad Abdul-Malak was happy with the new segmentation of the show and said, “With GULFCOMMS, the organisers have brought together more focus that benefits our core business immensely.”

GITEX 2006 and the new show GULFCOMMS, accelerated its momentum of growth to become one of the largest ICT exhibitions in the world, occupying 13 halls and more than 62,000 square meters (33% more than last year) at the DICEC complex. This year, 1,347 exhibitors (up 16%) participated at the event from 76 countries (up 23%) with new country groups from the USA, Syria, Hungary and Portugal participating at the event.