Dubai Internet City (DIC), the information and communications technology (ICT) hub in the Middle East showcased the region’s business potential at CeBIT 2007 in Hannover, Germany, with the aim of enhancing ICT ties between the Middle East and international markets.

The DIC stall at CeBIT 2007 highlighted the hub’s business incentives and support services to delegates, trade visitors and industry professionals.

CeBIT is the world's largest trade fair showcasing digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments. Its key target groups are industry end users, the wholesale/retail sector, skilled trades, banks, the services sector, government agencies, and science and technology enthusiasts.

Jamal Abdulsalam, Executive Director of DIC said: “Dubai Internet City is the ideal destination for international companies to penetrate the ICT market in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Indian sub continent. Leveraging Dubai’s ideal location, DIC investors benefit from its state of the art infrastructure and investor friendly opportunities to reach a segment of more than 1.8 billion consumers.

Majed Al Suwaidi, Director of Sales, DIC said: “We are keen on developing stronger ties with the international ICT market. CeBIT presents us with a perfect opportunity to be able to achieve this goal. It also offers us a great platform to reach out to key ICT markets across the world.”

“DIC provides an ideal venue for ICT companies to tap into the ever-growing business opportunities in the Middle East besides offering a temporary base from which international companies can explore the regional market.

“The business-friendly “firststeps@DIC” eliminates the need for upfront investments usually required to set up a full-fledged office. With provisions of one-month, two-month, or year-long lease periods, companies are given the opportunity to test the viability of their business plan before creating a full-fledged presence at DIC,” Al Suwaidi added.

At CeBIT, international companies networked with DIC officials and learned how the hub could provide them with a strategic and lucrative base for their Middle East operations.

DIC is already nearing the 1,000-mark for establishments within its boundaries, including international and major ICT players such as LexMark, Intel, General Electric (GE) and several others, making it one of the largest managed clusters of ICT companies in the world. The number of business partners at the region’s largest ICT hub has grown at an average annual rate of 53 per cent since its launch in 2000.

DIC was awarded the Foreign Direct Investment magazine's 'Middle East Special Economic Zone of the Future' Award for 2006-2007.