Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone (Rak FTZ) has awarded a contract to the United Computer and Management Consultancy (UCM), a Gulf Business Machines company, to upgrade its IT services and communication systems.

Gulf Business Machines (GBM) is one of the largest IT solutions and service providers in the region with presence in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan and Qatar.

Oussama El Omari,  Rak FTZ chief executive officer and Ashok Bhola, UCM general manager signed the contract in the presence of  Maryam El Murshedi, DDG, Jerry Williams, director of IT, Krikor Tengerian, IT Infrastructure manager and Carlos Elias Aoun, senior client manager.

Under the contract, the UCM will connect the new Rak FTZ Business Centre 4 to the free zone's Data Centre, ensuring that Rak FTZ can offer a top-of-the-line IT solution to its clients, said a top official.

The GBM will also work on improving the free zone's call system, equipping it with a fast and efficient phone answering service, with the additional advantage of receiving recorded messages for after hour calls.

'A new call filtering system will ensure that the employees will only receive relevant calls, thereby increasing productivity. This is a timely upgrade for our products and services,' said CEO Oussama El Omari.

“RAK FTZ is continuously expanding and promoting its services, it is only natural that we also maintain an international quality standard with our IT and communication system. We all know how important an effective and efficient communication system is to the growth and expansion of any business,” he added.

A recipient of the Dubai Quality Appreciation Award in 2006, and voted Best Systems Integrator in the Middle East for the third year in 2007 by readers of Network Middle East magazine, GBM is set to commence work in April. They are expected to finish the upgrades by July this year.

“It is our pleasure to work with GBM. We know that their dedication to quality is on par with our own,” said Williams. “We look forward to working with a much better IT infrastructure and offering the same to our clients.”

Rak FTZ is one of the fastest growing and most cost-effective free trade zones in the Middle East today which continues to offer cutting edge technology with friendly service, El Omari noted.

It recently received the Top 17 ranking in the Top 100 Special Economic Free Zone within the Middle East by fDi magazine, a foreign direct investment magazine by The Financial Times Business Group, he added.-TradeArabia News Service