DUBAI, 26 September 2005 — The Middle East’s largest information technology fair opened in the emirate of Dubai yesterday, with a record number of participants reflecting the booming IT industry in the region, organizers said. The five-day GITEX 2005 show, now in its 25th year, features 2,724 exhibiting companies from 61 countries at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center, they said. Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum said at the inauguration that the emirate was eager to become “the regional center... for the promotion of ‘Internet culture’ in the Middle East and North Africa.”