RIYADH: Abdul Rahman Al-Jaafari, governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), inaugurated yesterday “Gitex Saudi Arabia 2009 — the 8th International Information Technology Exhibition” at the Riyadh Exhibition Center yesterday.
Inaugurating the four-day event, the governor said that the Kingdom has become an important market for the telecommunication industry and has attracted both local and foreign investors.
He said Gitex Saudi Arabia 2009 is a global event showcasing the Middle East’s Internet and IT development. More than 400 companies from 15 countries are exhibiting their products and services at the show, which is expected to draw over 100,000 visitors.
Saudi Arabia accounts for 40 percent of total computer and IT application sales in the Middle East as a whole, worth close to $5 billion. PC and notebook sales continue to soar in the Kingdom with a surge of Internet usage, e-commerce and e-banking services.
Answering a question from the press regarding the drop in the number of exhibitors at the show, Al-Jaafari said this could be due to the global financial crisis. He, however, stressed that organizers should have followed a better marketing strategy to attract more participants since the Kingdom remains a vibrant market despite the global economic downturn.
“The pace of development is so strong in Saudi Arabia that the country’s current estimated 1.5 million users are expected to triple within two years,” said another official, pointing out that the Internet only emerged in Saudi Arabia in 1998.
He said that it is Saudi Arabia’s governmental and corporate capital and a variety of schools, universities and research institutes are driving IT and computer demand.
