Orange Business Services, the business services arm of France Telecom-Orange, has announced the launch of EGN, a new joint venture company in Qatar aimed at addressing the significant ICT market opportunities in the country.

The new local Qatari company has been established in partnership with Sheikh Fahad Bin Ghanim Al Thani, as the majority shareholder.

Through the new company, Orange Business Services will address the significant ICT market opportunities in Qatar, one of the world’s fastest growing economies with ambitious investment programmes in place, as host of the 2022 Fifa World Cup finals and with a strategic national vision to diversify the economy by 2030.  

The EGN is the most recent local company established by Orange Business Services in the Middle East and Africa region (MEA) and is the first of its kind dedicated to large systems integration programmes and operations, said senior officials while speaking at the official launch of Orange Business Services in Qatar at the Hilton Doha yesterday (January 8).

Several Qatari VIPs and senior representatives of Orange Business Services and business officials attended a reception hosted by Sheikh Fahad Bin Ghanim [Al Abdul Rahman] Al Thani and Vivek Badrinath, the CEO of Orange Business Services.

Commenting on the new venture, Sheikh Fahad said, "It is a very significant step that will support the development of world class ICT infrastructure in Qatar, and the broader economy, as a partner for the long term, bringing new technology and complex integration capability."

According to him, Qatar has already developed leading ICT systems in the areas of e-Government and border security, and through this new joint venture company, Orange will bring the global experience and capabilities of France Telecom to Qatar.

"This will help accelerate our progress towards achieving the economic vision laid out in the Qatar National Vision 2030, for the development of a competitive and diversified economy capable of creating and sustaining a high standard of living for all our citizens," he added.

Orange Business Services has already appointed Antoine Farah as the new general manager of the company, along with a team of senior professionals to qualify, design and build targeted projects.

The new team will comprise programme directors, senior architects, project managers, subject matter experts and operations directors, and will focus on target business sectors including oil & gas, government sector projects, telecom company systems integrators, new cities and large infrastructure projects.

Philippe Koebel, the senior VP Emerging Markets and Indirect, Orange Business Services, said the new Qatari venture comes as Orange is accelerating its growth strategy in the Middle East, following another strong performance in 2012.

"This new local company is a clear sign of our commitment to the Qatari market and to developing the ICT infrastructure of Qatar by offering and supporting new and advanced ICT services and solutions to the public and private sectors," he added.-TradeArabia News Service