DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Oct. 19, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Minister of Defence, jointly inaugurated the 23rd edition of GITEX today (October 19th) that has broken all records in terms of nett area, number of exhibitors/companies and participating countries since its inception.
Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed were accompanied by H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Chairman Dubai Technology, Electronic Commerce & Media Free Zone Authority, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Board of the Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders, HH Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, H.E. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation and Emirates and Vice Chairman of DWTC; DWTC Director General, Mubarak bin Fahad and a host of high level dignitaries including HE Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of Communications and Chairman of Emirates Transport; HE Mattar Humaid Al Tayer, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation; Khalid A. bin Sulayem, Director General Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing; Mohammad Al Gergawi, Director General of Dubai Development and Investment Authority; Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Managing Director of Tejari.com and a number of prominent luminaries from the regional IT industry.
HH Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed inaugurated the event and first visited the Dubai Internet City Pavilion which is four times larger this year than in 2002 with many of the world's leading IT companies exhibiting under their umbrella in the Dubai Internet City Community Zone which is situated in the immaculate new Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Hall.
Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Mohammed then proceeded to inaugurate the E-Access system that has been introduced by the DWTC at GITEX 2003 to better serve exhibitors and visitors to the exhibition and enable swift and easy access to exhibitions. This system provides complete integrated platform tools for events database management and helps in creating and customizing databases, enables import and control of unstructured data, management of badge printing and is altogether secure, networked and reliable.
The inaugural tour covered the all the halls at the DWTC including the hardware, software, networking and country pavilions among others.
Speaking to reporters after the inauguration, Mr. bin Fahad said, "GITEX 2003 has broken all previous records set over the last two decades recording best-ever growth in exhibitors, gross floor space, participating countries and overall reach.
Commenting on the growth of the event, Mr. bin Fahad said, "The show has grown remarkably from last year with a substantial double-digit increase of 26% in the number of exhibitors, 14% in the number of participating companies, 19% in the net area and 19% in the number of country pavilions," Mr. bin Fahad said.
"The show has emerged as the Middle East's largest and most important information technology event with increased participation from companies across the world as it plays a progressive role towards fulfilling the all-encompassing vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of converting the emirate into the Silicon Valley of the Middle East," Mr. bin Fahad reiterated.
GITEX 2003 features 19 national pavilions (up by 19%), 774 exhibitors (up by 26%) 1,703 companies (up by 14%) a net area of 22,754 square metres (up by 19%) all pointing to a significant growth in the size, scope and profile of the event.
There has been a considerable increase in interest among companies with many of the industry's key players well represented including industry leaders like IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, HP, Samsung, Toshiba, Canon, NEC, Acer, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Sony, Fujitsu, Sanyo, Etisalat, DAFZA, Thuraya and Epson among others securing a strong presence at the show.
The response from the IT industry has been exceptionally encouraging largely because of the Dubai Government's commitment to make the most of the city's IT potential and attracting the interest of key global players in the technology sector as well as due to GITEX's ability to attract IT professionals from around the region to network at the event.
GITEX 2002 attracted a diverse profile of visitors to the show that included 75% from the Middle East, 15.5% from Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe and 7% from Europe and North America among others. In total almost 65,000 visitors from 109 countries visited the show in 2002.
The venue has transformed radically since last year's event and now offers an abundance of facilities including a brand new concourse linking all the exhibition halls, additional parking facilities, E-Access gates and a new registration system for easy access to the venue, mobile exhibition guide for better navigation at the event, spacious new media centre fully equipped with latest in communications tools and a series of technical seminars.
Participating exhibitors at the event are displaying an entire range of IT related products and services with a significant focus on e-business and e-commerce solutions. Other products include uninterrupted power supply solutions, desktop publishing, digital imaging & information management Internet products, mobile computing & WAP technology, networking & business communication, office automation, computer hardware and many others.
While the main exhibition is focused largely on trade professionals, consumers looking to purchase computer equipment and electronic gadgetry are witnessing the ultimate shopping experience with highly attractive bargains on offer from well known manufacturers. The show has grown phenomenally and is 136% larger than last year in terms of floor space and is up by 16% in the number of participating exhibitors. GITEX Computer Shopper currently on at the Airport Expo Dubai between 18th and 24th of October 2003 is the retail component of GITEX and targets those seeking to purchase equipment for personal use.