Egypt IT market projected to reach USD 1.3 billion by 2011.

The Egyptian IT sector is poised to become the next regional IT destination, with expectations to increase its value from USD 889 million in 2006 by over 75 per cent to reach USD 1.3 billion by 2011, according to latest studies. NETGEAR, a worldwide provider of technologically advanced and branded networking products, is targeting the booming Egypt IT market, as the next step in its extensive expansion plans in the region. In line with this, the company held a high impact seminar in cooperation with Hiteknofal, Netgear's key channel partner in Egypt, yesterday (Monday, April 14, 2008) at InterContinental Citystars, Cairo, for systems integrators, distributors and value-added resellers to leverage the opportunities within the country. Due to regional trade liberalization, the Egyptian IT industry has benefited from the current downpour of foreign direct investments in key verticals such as the telecommunications, real estate and finance sectors from the GCC countries. Furthermore, small and medium business enterprises have also become a strong element that drives the demand and spending for IT products and peripherals in the country with predictions from regional distributors that Egypt could soon surpass regional giants UAE and Saudi Arabia. This growth trend is bringing in global players such as NETGEAR to the local arena. "Around 40 per cent of business-critical IT investments from key sectors across the entire Middle East are finding their way towards Egypt's strong IT products and services market. In addition to this is the country's own demand for networking and storage solutions, especially in the SMB sector, which has presented us with an immense opportunity to expand our reach and generate greater awareness for the NETGEAR brand in the region," said Ahmed Zeidan, Channel Sales Manager, NETGEAR Middle East. "Our effort to educate systems integrators and value-added resellers in the country is aimed at enhancing our technological upper hand by leveraging the power of having highly knowledgeable people pushing our products." Based on the current trends in the regional IT sector, NETGEAR expects the Egyptian IT market to exhibit relatively strong all-round growth within the coming years, with considerable opportunities in both the public and private sectors. This highly potential market is also expected to follow the uptrend in computer penetration and wireless solutions for households and enterprises, as well as the IT investments of telecoms and financial sectors, which will definitely increase the demand for high quality networking solutions. NETGEAR has conducted some unique projects for the hotel, education and tourism sectors in Egypt, by providing wireless solutions for multimedia and VOIP services. "With initiatives taken by the government to invest its budget surpluses to promote IT as part of its overall development strategy and the recent awarding of 3G licenses to three service providers in Egypt, the market is ripe with possibilities that transcend our usual implementations within highly IT-dependent sectors. As current market developments generate new spending and increase the demand of vertical sectors on IT products and services, our strategy is to maximise the advantages of employing a networking strong channel and distribution partners through our unique channel partner program, especially in emerging markets such as Egypt," concluded Zeidan. NETGEAR is actively involved in educating channel partners through its 'Partner Specialisation Program' (PSP), which categorizes the partner channels according to its capacity to handle different range of products, and accordingly builds on their strengths as distributors and resellers. The program is also designed to increase brand loyalty within the regional and local market. NETGEAR recently completed its road show in Bahrain for its channel partners, and the Egypt seminar is a part of the series of road shows being conducted in the region.

[c] 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)