JEDDAH, 16 March 2004 — With the participation of more than 250 leading IT companies the fourth annual COMDEX Saudi Arabia is delivering an ideal platform for the exploration of collaboration, communication and commerce in information technology. The exhibition runs through tomorrow and has attracted enormous interest from the Kingdom’s IT professionals.
“The demand for serious content on relevant enterprise technology products and services is greater than ever,” said Nasser Diab, project manager, DIT Events, the official organizer of COMDEX Saudi Arabia. “As regional companies lean more heavily on technology to navigate an extraordinary climate of global uncertainty, they must also contend with increasingly fragile economic conditions. COMDEX’s role is to support regional IT buyers in their process of understanding, selecting and purchasing the right technologies for their businesses. It is imperative we deliver on our promise by making those choices easier.”
Attendees are experiencing an exhibit floor show designed with a greater emphasis on information and interaction. COMDEX is proving its leadership position in the region’s IT events with 45 percent participation from Dubai-based companies.
“COMDEX had drawn large crowds reflecting the huge growth of the IT industry in the Kingdom and surrounding GCC countries,” said Riad Aoun, managing director, Saudi Business Machines (SBM), sponsor of the COMDEX registration desk.
He said that the event is offering business decision-makers an entire range of IT related products and services from leading IT companies, with a significant focus on e-business and e-commerce solutions that are expected to drive the next wave of market innovation.
“Our participation in COMDEX Saudi Arabia focuses on underlining SBM’s dominant presence in the IT market in Saudi Arabia. Our latest access control systems, wi-fi technology, high-tech security solutions and Internet services through VSAT are on display this year,” Aoun added.
Riad pointed out that SBM’s participation this year represents their keen interest in providing the Saudi market with the best of breed computing technologies. He said that Saudi buyers don’t have to travel overseas to attend international exhibitions when what they need is available right at home.
Bashar Safdi from Digital Tech concurred with that sentiment and stressed the importance of this year’s COMDEX Saudi Arabia due to its interest in serving the distinct needs of the Middle East community. Safdi claimed that the leading IT companies are working hard to put on a good show as competition is reaching higher and higher levels with vendors searching for new markets. He said that his company is expecting to gain more sales from COMDEX than at any other time this year as they exhibit their reliable, effective and affordable digital technologies.
“COMDEX is the No. 1 exhibition in Saudi Arabia and we always make sure to participate annually in order to showcase our most advanced digital technologies,” he said. “Technology is moving so fast that most of the IT leading companies around the world try to be on the front line with their latest technologies to attract customers.”
It is well known that Saudi Arabia is the premier emerging market for IT in the Gulf. With that in mind vendors know that if their technologies aren’t front line, the effect will be clearly visible on their bottom line.
