RIYADH, 8 July — The Kingdom will host one of the largest information technology exhibition here in April next year. Arriyadh Exhibition Company will organize the GITEX Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the Dubai World Trade Center, said an official of the trade center.
The contract for the annual IT exhibition in Riyadh follows an agreement in this regard signed by the Saudi company with the trade center, said Waheed Atallah, director general of the center in a statement yesterday.
The five-day event is part of the Dubai-based company’s bid to dominate the Middle East IT market. The electronic trade in the Gulf region is valued at SR7 billion ($1.9 billion).
“Being the largest market in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia will help make GITEX popular through out the Middle East,” Atallah said. The annual GITEX exhibition has been already held in Dubai, Lebanon, India and Egypt in the past years.
The expo will help attract large IT companies in the world to the Saudi capital which is keen on technological transfer and adoption of the latest in the technology, said Akram Al-Masri, technical director of AEC.
He added the proposed exhibition would not affect the company’s commitment to conduct other exhibitions. The move by the Dubai-based company is vital as the IT market in the Middle Eastern region is estimated to reach $4.6 billion by 2002.
AEC has organized 250 international and commercial exhibitions since its inception in addition to an average 14 annual domestic expos on diverse themes such as computer, agriculture, construction, telecommunication, air-conditioning, packaging etc., in collaboration with the Council of Saudi Chambers and Industry.
