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Riyadh Gears up for the biggest IT event
Riyadh, 27th November 2001--
AS MANY AS 400 IT COMPANIES AROUND THE WORLD WILL
PARTICIPATE IN THE GULF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION (GITEX) TO BE HELD FOR
THE FIRST TIME IN RIYADH FROM APRIL 21 TO 25 NEXT YEAR.
PRINCE SAUD ABDULLAH AL-FAISAL, CHAIRMAN OF RIYADH EXHIBITIONS CO., SAID AT A
PRESS CONFERENCE HERE MONDAY NIGHT THAT MAJOR IT COMPANIES FROM THE UNITED
STATES AND JAPAN WILL DISPLAY THEIR STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGIES AT THE SHOW,
WHICH WILL RUN CONCURRENTLY WITH A SEMINAR ON E-GOVERNMENT.
HE SAID GITEX WAS COMING TO RIYADH AFTER A SUCCESSFUL RECENT RUN IN DUBAI.
SPEAKING TO ARAB NEWS LATER, ABDULRAHMAN
AL-JERAISY, PRESIDENT OF THE RIYADH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, AND HUSAIN
AL-ATHEL, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF RCCI, REFERRED TO THE CHAMBER'S ROLE IN TRAINING
YOUNG SAUDIS FOR A CAREER IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
THEY SAID THE CHAMBER ALSO HAD A PLACEMENT SERVICE UNDER WHICH THEIR TRAINEES
HAD LANDED IT-RELATED JOBS WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR FIRMS.
THE DIPLOMAS GRANTED BY THE CHAMBER WERE RECOGNIZED IN THE EMPLOYMENT MARKET
EVEN BY LARGE COMPANIES, AL-ATHEL SAID.
ACCORDING TO DR. AKRAM MASRI, A SENIOR
EXECUTIVE OF RIYADH EXHIBITIONS CO., IT SPENDING IN THE MIDDLE EAST WILL EXCEED
$4.6 BILLION NEXT YEAR. HE SAID SAUDI ARABIA ACCOUNTS FOR 40 PERCENT OF THE IT
MARKET IN THE GULF.
ASKED ABOUT THE GROWTH OF E-COMMERCE IN THE KINGDOM, HE SAID IT WAS BOOMING,
WITH OVER 600,000 NEW INTERNET SUBSCRIBERS DRIVING THE MASSIVE GROWTH.
THE OPENING OF DIRECT ACCESS TO THE INTERNET 'IS STIMULATING VAST GROWTH IN THIS
SECTOR FOR PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS, SOFTWARE AND CONSULTANCY SERVICES'.
Source: SPA 
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