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IBM Endorses Dubai's Growing E-Commerce Prowess

Lorys Charambolous, Tax-news.com, Cyprus

08 February 2001

The Dubai government has played a vital role in developing and promoting the country's e-business sector, which has seen substantial growth in recent months, according to International Business Machines (IBM). The international IT giant has said that the Dubai government's recent initiatives in the areas of infrastructure and education have been instrumental to e-business growth.

Jon Swainson, general manager for application and integration middleware division at IBM, told the Dubai press this week that the growth recorded by the UAE as a whole in promoting e-business is far ahead of many developed Western countries, and Dubai in particular has progressed its e-business strategy in leaps and bounds.

In addition, Bashar Kilani, manager of T&I software sales in the Middle East, stressed the key role Dubai plays in the region's software business, and that it is fast becoming an Arab centre for software. Kilani said: 'Though Cairo used to be the hub of software Arabisation activity, of late, Dubai is capturing that status from Cairo.'

Earlier this week, it was reported that India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dubai Internet City. President of Nasscom, Dewang Mehta said the organisation is looking forward to collaborating with the UAE which it considers a major market for India and hopes to hold an "annual exchange of delgations." He stated: 'We plan to encourage Indian companies to set up business in Dubai and we're also looking at outsourcing their orders which we will facilitate. This year (2001-02), we expect software exports to the UAE to reach $60 million. Though exports have been growing by 30-40 per cent during the last few years, we are keen that it shoots up by 100 per cent.'

Dubai is rapidly building a name for itself as a centre for e-commerce innovation and development. Futher measures that Dubai has undertaken so far to fulfill its ambition to become a major e-commerce and IT hub in the Middle East region include the launch of a major government investment programme, the opening of the Dubai Media City and the the first phase of the $200m state-of-the art Internet City. Dubai was also the first OECD non-member to host the OECD's Emerging Market Economy Forum on E-Commerce and the G8 Digital Opportunities Task Force last month.

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