Dubai Internet City will highlight its strategic strengths as a free zone for ICT companies looking to expand their service offerings in the region, at the third annual TelecomFinance Middle East and Africa 2009 Conference.

The ICT cluster will be the industry partner at the conference to be held on April 28 and 29 in Dubai.

'TelecomFinance Middle East and Africa 2009 will offer us an ideal forum to network with representatives from leading global brands and exchange information on various market perspectives,' said Malek Al Malek, executive director, Dubai Internet City.

'Recent statistics indicate a huge potential for telecom financing as the sector is one of the few that has not been impacted severely by the current global downturn.'

“The number of companies from the telecommunications sector based at Dubai Internet City is growing exponentially. We believe the industry will continue to grow and the event in Dubai will considerably raise awareness on the opportunities the region has to offer.”

According to the DIC ICT White Paper titled ‘The IT Market: A Middle East Perspective’,  a total of $363 million was spent on IT services in the telecommunications sector in the Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and the UAE in 2007. The amount is expected to reach $642 million by 2011.

'Dubai Internet City is uniquely positioned to offer a case in point example of convergence, uniting international telecoms, IT and media companies in a single, free zone at the heart of Dubai and providing a meeting point among companies hailing from not just the Middle East, Africa and Asia, but the rest of the world,' added Claire Landon, editor of TelecomFinance.

'It is for these reasons that Dubai Internet City is the perfect partner for TelecomFinance and its sister publications MediaFinance and SatelliteFinance.'

Hosting most of the Fortune 500 companies, as well as more than 1,300 specialised industry leaders from diverse segments of the information and communication technology sectors, Dubai Internet City has emerged as a global ICT hub, while catering to the region’s increasing focus on the knowledge-economy, stated Al Malek.-TradeArabia News Service