Chairman of Etisalat Mohammad Hassan Omran delivered the keynote address at the Samena Council in which he praised the UAE leadership for all round development of the region.

Omran lauded the efforts of the president of the UAE Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and vice-president and prime minister and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum for developing the UAE into a world-class economy based on investment in superior Information Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure.

Etisalat has been confirmed as member of the Samena council, and the chairman was accompanied by a delegation that includes CEO International Investments Jamal Al Jarwan , vice-president, corporate communications Ahmed Bin Ali and project manger, International Investments, Ali Al Sayeg.

"Telecommunications services have an impact on the economies of nations, as well as on the financial prosperity of the individual. One of the many proof points of the contribution that telecommunications services have made to our home country is the high ranking that the UAE has received over recent months in many league tables," said Omran.

"Only this week, the UAE was again ranked first in the Arab World, this time in the field of e-transaction readiness - a key measurement index for the success of e-commerce. These achievements could not have been made without the vision and leadership of our nation's rulers," he added.

Etisalat is presently witnessing growth year-on-year of 30 per cent in terms of revenues. Today the company records over 1.3million 3G customers, 200,000 Mobile TV customers, 15,000 BlackBerry customers and over 33 million customers across its 15 markets of operation.- TradeArabia News Service