Technology spend in Middle East poised to increase

Dubai: Gitex Shopper, the consumer electronics and IT products sale and promotional event kickstarts at the Dubai Airport Expo on Saturday, where consumers will have a wider choice of IT products, peripherals and components.

Laptops and mobile handheld devices are in great demand as personal computers are gradually becoming obsolete these days. Major retailers have set up their booths to bundle out products.

etisalat said its stand will contain latest products and solutions along with a wide range of services. Besides this, etisalat will be the main sponsor for Gitex Digital Game World, one of the most advanced platforms for video gaming.

This year, etisalat's stand will showcase a number of services including subscription in mobile services in both Wasel pre-paid and GSM systems. Ahlan package for UAE visitors, internet services, BlackBerry, Wasel Pre-Paid cards will be also available.

Jacky's Electronics will display over 200 LCD and plasma TVs at the event including Panasonic's 103-inch plasma TV and the brand new Giorgio Armani-Samsung range of LCD TVs.

All TVs will play personalised Blu-ray movies giving customers the ultimate high definition audio-video entertainment experience during the event. Jacky's sales staffs will assist and answer questions on everything related to Blu-ray format.

Meanwhile, a senior official said the Middle East's Dh276 billion tech spend is set to increase.

Study

"A recently conducted study has shown that the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions are spending Dh75 billion annually on IT, computers and technology and this is expected to grow to Dh349 billion [$95 billion] in three years," Ebrahim Ahli, Director of Marketing at the Free Zone, said in a statement.

"The region has surpassed the US in terms of IT spending at five per cent while the US spent an average of four per cent on IT and computers."

Meanwhile, Dubai World Trade Centre said it is working closely with the Road & Transport Authority (RTA) and the Dubai Police to manage the traffic more effectively and alleviate congestion at this year's Gitex Technology Week.

Among the measures that are being taken for traffic management are roadblocks for controlling and streamlining peak hour vehicle flow.