Dubai Internet City expands with new company registrations

Dubai: Dubai Internet City (DIC), one of the world's largest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) clusters, and a member of Tecom Investments, registered 105 new companies this year despite the tough economic conditions.

"ICT is the least affected sector. From the number of new companies registering and the expansion we have seen of existing partners, growth touched almost 25 per cent," said Malek Al Malek, executive director of DIC.

The total number of companies registered is now over 1,300 within the cluster that includes local and global companies. New additions include large multi-national corporations such as AT&T.

"The perception of this sector has changed. People see it as the key driver for their next growth. This year the cluster saw growth in the number of registered companies equal to that of 2008," he said.

DIC expects similar growth next year, and its focus will be on expanding the activities of the existing companies rather than adding new ones to the cluster.

Assistance

Al Malek said that incubation centres are set up to help SMEs start business immediately, or help them through the development process if they are not start-ups.

"You will see a number of activities around nurturing start-ups," said Al Malek. In the first quarter, the authority allowed SMEs to start up and operate immediately.

"We have doubled our capacity of operation. There were 80-90 companies that began with the initiative.

Now the number has passed 200 companies that can operate from the location," he said.

Instead of full operational offices, DIC registers the companies and provides them with access to market research, government and secretarial services, and a location to operate from.

Al Malek said that in the future, the services would cover all the requirements for SMEs.

They will include business consultancy and access to venture capital funds provided by investment companies. "We are trying to position the SMEs as attractive businesses for international funds to invest in," he said.

Al Malek said that the cluster is a prime location for funds that are set up by the government and international funds to target.

"This year we've seen five global acquisitions. Capital from international companies was invested in the companies within the cluster," he said. One example is the recent acquisition of Maktoob by Yahoo!