JEDDAH – Small and medium sized enterprises (SME) across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region are set to ramp-up their information technology (ICT) budgets as they aspire to become engines for economic growth and sustainable job creation. Based on new figures by IT market intelligence specialists IDC, IT spend by SMEs in the region is set to rise from last year's outlay of $16.73 billion to $24.48 billion by 2015. Most of last year's financial activity was split between Saudi Arabia (11 percent), the United Arab Emirates (9 percent), Turkey (12 percent) and South Africa (26 percent), and this geographic trend is expected to continue in the coming years. SMEs are regarded as integral to a developed economy and play an essential role in employment generation. In the UAE, more than 80 percent of the private sector is comprised of SMEs, according to the Ministry of Foreign Trade. With an estimated 200,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises currently in operation in the UAE, the contribution of this key business sector to the country's economy is significant. According to the UAE Ministry of Economy, SMEs have become vital to the growth of the UAE economy, contributing 60 percent of the national GDP in 2011. Intent on boosting the MEA's burgeoning SME potential, GITEX Technology Week is officially launching its SME Zone following last year's successful trial run. Sponsored by security software giant Symantec Small and Medium Enterprise, which is an SME Zone Partner, and tailored to maximise return on investment, the new feature will serve as a conduit for SME Information and communication technology (ICT) businesses from MEA to engage with a high concentration of influential investors. In 2011, C-level executives at GITEX represented a combined ICT budget of $50 billion, and the average order stood at $1.2 million. Prajit Arakkal, Director of SMB and Distribution Sales for Emerging Markets, Symantec, said: “At Symantec, we are very aware that small businesses are driving our global economies and we are proud to lend our support to GITEX's SME Zone. As SMBs don't typically have dedicated IT personnel focusing on the information protection they need to keep them out of harm's way, making them more susceptible to risks than enterprises, Symantec delivers products and services tailored specifically to SMBs to ensure they are protected so they can focus on what they do best – accelerate their businesses. Symantec understands the SMB environment and the challenges they face. The Symantec SMB team works around the clock to protect the information that fuels the livelihood of this important community in the MENA region and around the world." Dhiraj Daryani, Research Manager, IDC MEA, said: “IT is enabling SMEs to operate like big companies, and acquire the wherewithal to compete and win business on a greater scale than ever before, and we are witnessing encouraging receptivity for the latest technology across the MEA region. Today's cutting-edge solutions are no longer unwieldy, incompatible and prohibitively expensive, which presents considerable and exciting new avenues for growth and innovation." Yousef Aljamal, General Manager of Jordan-based Qalam Soft, an advanced search and recognition company that has pioneered the first software in the world capable of reading natural Arabic handwriting in real-time, said: “Innovation is all well and good, but in today's competitive environment businesses of our size are likely to suffer if we do not get the right support and publicity. GITEX Technology Week 2012's focus on the SME sector is a hugely beneficial initiative and gives us a unique, highly credible opportunity to network and secure potentially profitable new routes to market." – SG
