Pakistan eyes the $13.4bn Middle East IT market

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries offer huge potential for Pakistan IT industry, official of Pakistan Software Export Board said in a statement.

Pakistan's IT exports to the Gulf had been increasing over the years, but there is still considerable potential to expand IT exports to GCC countries. Several IT companies of Pakistan have succeeded in making inroads in the fast growing IT market of the Middle East.

Currently, it is the third fastest growing IT market in the world, after India and China.

Market Information Estimates show that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) IT market is set to grow from $6.9bn in 2003 to $13.4bn in 2008. Between the GCC countries, UAE and Saudi Arabia alone account for 77% of the Gulf region's current annual IT spend of $4.94bn, which is projected to increase to $5bn this year.

Official stated that several Pakistani IT companies have developed successful business relations and have established their offices in Middle East.

Amongst those Pakistani IT companies, which have made inroads in the Saudi Arabian IT market, ZRG International is the prime example due to its selection by Smart Link Inc. (Saudi Arabia) to deliver flexible open standards based Intel CTI technology. Smart Link is a rapidly growing contact center outsourcing service provider, established as a joint venture by Saudi Arabia's two prestigious business groups, namely Al-Khaleej and Al-Alamia.

By winning the first phase of this multi-million dollar contact center expansion project, ZRG has clearly demonstrated its capability to successfully deliver the quality expected by the international IT customers.

Another credible name in the global IT market, TPS is serving 25 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Europe. The TPS technology solutions are helping banks in Bahrain, Qatar and Oman to develop EMV-compliant ATMs, thus assisting them in avoiding any likely penalties, which could be levied for non-compliance by end of the year. In the years to come, UAE is likely to be the next country to mandate EMV.

Software export activities by Pakistanis companies are not only enhancing Pakistan's image abroad, but are also having a positive impact on the IT export related earnings of the country.

PSEB official stated that Pakistan IT industry has experienced a tremendous growth of 60 percent in the last fiscal year, while the industry size is estimated to be at US$ 2.8 billion, according to BPM 6. At current rates of growth, it is expected that industry size will surpass eleven billion dollars by 2011.