India's IT trade facilitation body, the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), said it will be putting up an Indian Pavilion to help Indian IT companies penetrate into the expanding IT market in the Gulf, particularly in Abu Dhabi.
The ESC is laying considerable importance on tapping the Gulf market as a part of its proactive policy to identify newer destinations for IT exports and insulate the Indian IT companies from the sporadic shocks they experience on account of dependence on a few global markets, it said.
"The Middle East region is one of the fastest growing IT markets in the world. High growth prevails across all segments and the market is driven by economic diversification and various e-government initiatives including finance, communications and manufacturing," it said in a statement.
"The UAE is currently spending USD 11.4 billion on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and that figure is set to rise to USD 14.8 billion by 2011," the statement added.
The ESC said it is making efforts to enhance the participation of Indian companies in the show, which is scheduled to be held in Abu Dhabi from September 27-28 this year.
The Internet Show in Abu Dhabi is emerging as an important place for business transactions. The ESC has been participating in the Internet Show regularly and the exhibiting companies have reported a high level of satisfaction in terms of the business they have generated from taking part.
They are keen to tap this booming market and forge significant business, joint venture and marketing tie-ups with buyers visiting the exhibition. The IT products that would be on display at the India Pavilion would be from areas as diverse as open source software development in PHP and ROR, search engine optimisation (SEO), ready shopping cart, rental sites and CRM products, ShopNetwork and MFit applications, web applications, social media integration, search engine marketing, social media optimisation, Web 2.0, e-commerce and payments, content management systems, information security, audit and compliance, risk assessment, short messaging services and iPhone apps.
Indian IT companies that have confirmed participation include Cosmos Star Consultants, SeoNext Digital Web Solutions, Girnar Software, NeoSOFT Technologies, Secure Matrix (India), SISRB Technologies, AnyLinuxWork.com + Uradics.com, Empower Integrated Solutions, Softland India and Intellisys Technologies & Research.
To further strengthen IT relations between India and the Middle East, the council has invited a large delegation from the Middle East to visit India for Indiasoft 2012, the largest global IT networking event in India, to be held from March 21 to 23, 2012, in Hyderabad.
Around 400 software & services buyers from over 75 countries, including the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, Japan, China, Korea, Latin America and Africa and from the CIS and ASEAN regions, will be present at this business-to-business (B2B) partnering forum.