JEDDAH, 14 March 2004 — Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed opened the annual COMDEX, the Kingdom’s global technology marketplace, at the Jeddah International Exhibition and Convention Center yesterday.
The event, which is open to businessmen and IT professionals from today until Wednesday, focuses on five technology segments that are at the forefront of enterprise innovation. They include wireless, security, real-time and automatic enterprise, integration, web services and digital convergence.
The governor was visibly impressed by various exhibits and praised the rapid strides being made in the IT industry.
The organizers have also described the exhibition as the starting point toward e-commerce, which could be an engine driving the economy in the Kingdom and the region.
The show offers wireless Internet services and visitor’s data insertion through the Local Area Network (LAN) server. Together, the various segments represent the fastest growing areas of technology advancement that will drive the majority of market innovations in support of user needs.
The forum provides an opportunity for participating industry vendors and solution providers to hold face-to-face meetings. They include Canon, Kodak, IBM, Samsung, Microsoft Arabia, Sony, Acer and the Canadian Embassy.
“We display catalogues from 10 companies about their products in different sectors of the IT industry,” said Imad Arafat, commercial officer at the Canadian Embassy.
The event will deliver a platform for collaboration, communications and commerce to the largest IT market in the Middle East-Gulf region. “Our goal is to provide the best opportunities for influential buyers and sellers around the world. The Kingdom’s market, which comprises virtually half of the region’s overall market, is projected to grow by more than 20 percent in 2004,” the organizers said.
In addition to the conference program, COMDEX offers an opportunity to learn about shopping software, hardware and PC accessories from the industry’s leading vendors.
It is expected to draw over 18,000 qualified professional trade visitors to meet, discuss and make vital technology decisions with the Kingdom’s leading technology specialists.
MidiaLive International, with its partner DIT Events, is presenting the IT industry’s showcase where technology and business professionals from the Kingdom, the rest of the Middle East and elsewhere in the world, have come together to exchange ideas, build relationships, see the latest technologies and make decisions that will empower their businesses, said Kim Myhre, the president of MediaLive International. Since its inception in 2000, COMDEX has strived to bring the highest quality IT trade show to enhance the technology market in the Kingdom, according to Nasser Diab, project manager, COMDEX Saudi Arabia, DIT Groups-Events.
Samsung, Saudi Arabia, is the main sponsor.
Also exhibiting is Saudi Business Machines (SBM) alongside IBM, which has been a leading IT provider in the Kingdom for over 50 years. It provides state-of-the-art IBM products, services and solutions offerings to individuals and enterprises in both the private and public sectors, according to General Manager Hasan Barraj.
Dr. Khaled Al-Dhaher, GM, Microsoft Arabia said COMDEX was an “excellent and extensive” platform for introducing businessmen and their partners to Microsoft’s latest products and solutions.