China & India To Spearhead Asian Participation At GITEX

Organisers Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) announced that over 130 companies from China and India will be spearheading the Asian participation at GITEX 2005 with these emerging markets riding high on a robust IT demand growth rate ranging between 21% and 28% for the years 2003 and 2004.

GITEX 2005, the premier IT event in the Middle East, will be held from September 25 to 29, 2005 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“This year’s GITEX, in its 25th edition, will offer multiple opportunities for businesses to take advantage of the tremendous growth in emerging markets over the past couple of years,” said DWTC Director General, Helal Saeed Khalfan Al Marri.

The Chinese government has led the centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented structure in recent years. The result has been an express growth of GDP. Measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis, China in 2004 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US.

India's diverse economy on the other hand encompasses traditional farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range of modern industries, and a multitude of services with the services sector being the major source of economic growth. The Indian economy has posted an excellent average growth rate of 6.8% since 1994, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India is capitalising on its large highly educated workforce to become a major exporter of software services and expertise.

“Both India & China have registered high growth in recent years and have emerged as the bright spots in IT demand, with India overtaking China to achieve a 28 per cent growth rate as compared to China’s 24 per cent growth,” said Mr. Al Marri, quoting figures from leading research firm IDC. “GITEX is ideally placed to tap into that growth.”

ICT growth across the globe this year will be mostly consumer-driven, with the notable regional exception being China, where commercial sales have been strengthened by the nation's booming economy, IDC said.

The Indian IT market is estimated to touch AED 238 billion ($65 billion) by 2009, posting a compounded annual growth rate of 21 per cent, according to research firm IDC.

The Indian IT market crossed the AED 91.75 billion mark ($25 billion) in 2004. This included a contribution of AED 61.28 billion ($16.7 billion) from exports and AED 31.19 billion ($8.5 billion) from the domestic market. This is the best performance by the domestic industry after the technology market bounced back from the slowdown, says IDC.

GITEX last year welcomed 939 exhibitors representing more than 2,428 companies from 41 countries and attracted a record 116,346 visitors.

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