Dubai Internet City, the region’s leading ICT cluster and member of TECOM Investments, today announced it will be the industry partner for the third annual TelecomFinance Middle East and Africa 2009 Conference.

In its debut participation at the conference to be held from 28–29 April at the Park Hyatt in Dubai, the ICT cluster will highlight its strategic strengths as a free zone for ICT companies looking to expand their service offerings in the region.

Malek Al Malek, Executive Director, Dubai Internet City, will give the Honorary Closing Address at the conference on Wednesday 29th April at 17:45.

Al Malek said: “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. 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 US3 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 US2 million by 2011.

Claire Landon, Editor of TelecomFinance said: “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. It is for these reasons that Dubai Internet City is the perfect partner for TelecomFinance and its sister publications MediaFinance and SatelliteFinance.”

Offering true Middle Eastern and African coverage, TelecomFinance will allocate one day for each region with overlapping themes throughout. Backed by years of high quality reporting on emerging markets’ telecom financing in its eponymous monthly magazine, TelecomFinance has the network and the know-how to provide the best insight into the developing Middle Eastern and ever more attractive African markets.
 
Featuring a who’s who of regional and global operators, investment bankers, corporate lawyers, consultants and private equity professionals, TelecomFinance Middle East and Africa 2009 remains the region’s must-attend event.

TelecomFinance Middle East and& Africa 2009 is sponsored by Marsh and partnered by Arthur D. Little.

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.