Good participation and positive response at the 18th edition of COMEX 2008

Organised by Oman International Trade and Exhibitions (OITE), COMEX was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Information Technology Authority along with support from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. COMEX will for the first time be organized in Oman's second largest city, Salalah this year from 30 July to 8 August, 2008 at the Municipality Fair Ground.

The 18th edition of COMEX closed on a high note with satisfied exhibitors and was well received by visitors with supporters, sponsors and participating companies putting together the latest developments in the world of ICT, Telecommunications and Technologies. The latest gadgets coupled with irresistible offers on laptops, mobile phones and computer accessories attracted buyers to the Shopper section, while the Business section was visited by professional visitors who came to check out new product launches and services offered by the industry.

Visitors that thronged the 5 day event included college and school students, tech savvy youngsters, professionals, techies and the general public looking for bargains and offers on educational aids, computers, laptops, mobile phones and an array of IT and computer-related accessories.

Jinson John of Atlas Al Sharq Electronics exhibiting electronic dictionaries and computer accessories said "This year the response has been better than ever before. We have participated in COMEX for the last few years and the sales compared with last year has doubled. Around 70% of the visitors to our stand bought our products."

COMEX facilitates the IT, Telecom & Technology related industries, to provide the latest services & products at a single platform with a definite opportunity of attraction between buyers & sellers. "I came to COMEX to check out the mobiles on offer and I got a great deal compared to the market price. COMEX has really opened my eyes to the competitive products available in the market and I will definitely be going back next year," said Zaheer Ahmed, visitor at COMEX.

"High tech products are becoming increasingly important to Oman's industry and Comex offers an ideal platform for local and international technology providers to exhibit their latest products, besides building new business relationships," said Mr. Najib Al Marhoon.

COMEX BUSINESS & COMEX SHOPPER were organized concurrently and complimenting each other, providing both exhibitors as well as visitors an opportunity to extract maximum mileage from their participation. This year to further enhance the event's profile a special government e-Services exhibition was organized at ITA's e-Oman pavilion showcasing eServices offered by around 20 public sector entities of Oman, including Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Muscat Municipality. A daily IT school presented by Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional — Tariq al Barwani, offered IT career counseling to students and highlighted the convergence of business and technology for Corporates.

With participation from over 80 participants Comex brought together the public and private sectors on a common platform, including players from Singapore, Egypt, Jordan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia who showcased innovative products. The event had the highest support of the industry with Omantel and Oman Mobile as lead supporters, Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) as technology sponsor and Nawras as official mobile service provider.

Lead sponsors included Al Khalili Group, Photocentre and Bishara Establishment. Platinum sponsors of the event were Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson, Huawei and Shah Nagardas Manji. Cellucom was platinum sponsor as well as visitor bag sponsor. Global Technology Innovations signed up as gold sponsor while Focus, Softnet and Graphic International Centre joined as silver sponsors. Official networking was done by Imtac while Gulf Agency was the official clearing and forwarding agent. Oman Establishment for Press, Publication and Advertising (OEPPA), publishers of the Observer and its sister Arabic daily Oman, was the media sponsor of the prestigious event, while Business Today was the official business magazine for COMEX 2008.