MIDDLE EAST

Samer Karawi Regional Partner - Middle East Office 210 – Indigo Tower Jumeirah Lakes Towers P.O. Box 37109 Dubai - United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 432 7940 Mobile: +971 5 455 6239 Email: info_ME@theyorkgroup.com

Asem Galal Regional Partner - Middle East Office 210 – Indigo Tower Jumeirah Lakes Towers P.O. Box 37109 Dubai - United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 432 7940 Mobile: +971 5 655 3230 Email: info_ME@theyorkgroup.com

Samer Karawi and Asem Galal have 38 years of combined experience in multinational IT companies in the Middle East market behind us, including Microsoft, HP, Compaq, Borland & McAfee in management, sales, marketing, product management & systems development roles. On 08/08/08 we recognized the opportunity that the financial crisis has opened for startups and entrepreneurs and founded G&K Consulting. G&K Consulting helps companies from around the world to operate in Middle East and Africa with no physical presence and minimal resources, by helping them develop the sales channel, customer funnel and marketing activities. G&K Consulting is considered as pioneer in providing such services in the Middle East.

	Spending ($millions)
Technology Sectors	UAE	Kuwait	Saudi Arabia	Egypt
Hardware	1,008	280	1,133	287
Software	255	114	353	220
Services	1,001	354	1,516	386
Communications	3,472	556	4,802	694
TOTAL ICT Spend	5,737	1303	7,803	1,587
Vertical Markets
Agriculture	3	0	47	23
Manufacturing	682	201	633	137
Utilities	340	9	15	26
Construction	96	12	149	13
Wholesale & Retail	799	63	377	248
Transportation & Communication	489	77	656	242
Finance & Bus. Services	108	122	438	18
Other Services	391	112	461	282
Government	182	345	2,768	230
Consumer	1,424	250	1,293	351
Software Piracy	35%	62%	51%	60%

 

Regional Overview

The Middle East is a region comprised of the lands that extend from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It defines a cultural area, so it does not have precise borders but is generally taken to include: Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, Iran (Persia), Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The countries of the Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia) are frequently linked to the Middle East due to their strong historical and cultural associations, as is Sudan. The African countries Mauritania and Somalia also have links to the region.

The region is home to the world's largest reserves of Oil and Natural Gas and esp. the Gulf countries have some of the highest per capita incomes in the world.

Surprisingly, though, the regions have lagged the rest of the world with regards to the adoption of technology and the percentage of GDP spent on research and development. This has been identified as a serious problem by local governments and they are making a significant effort to ensure that this is corrected in the long term.

Some interesting facts:

• Qatar Telecom, the monopoly operator for the State of Qatar (total population 800,000 people) did 386mn USD in profits on 717mn USD in revenues. Qatar is the smallest Gulf state by population
  
• Emirates, Dubai's national carrier capped a turbulent year in the global aviation industry (2004) by announcing its 17th consecutive profitable year with 708mn USD in profits on revenues of 5.2bn USD with no government assistance or subsidies and while continuing to be a full service award winning airline
  
• It is expected that record oil prices will mean Saudi Aramco will earn $100 billion in revenues which will put it on par with Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest car manufacturer, and the 12th largest listed company worldwide by revenues. The cost to pump oil (according to Saudi Aramco's website) is between $1-$2. Profits will go towards developing infrastructure in the Kingdom.