40 per cent rise in Tech Data technology shipments within GCC in January

Mike Vosper, operations director at Tech Data said: "This is a successful pro-active approach that Tech Data and its freight forwarders have agreed upon prior to January to ensure that doing business with the GCC technology reseller channel, and for the foreseen future, are best serviced in the current environment." Tech Data also said that it is extending the price cuts on GCC technology shipments to the month of February.

In January 2003, Tech Data has announced more competitive shipment charges for technology products, a move intended to help technology companies overcome potential additional costs and other uncertainties resulting from the move to create a GCC customs union. The move, taken in partnership with Tech Data logistics partners, saw shipping service charges on technology products from Tech Data in Dubai and Bahrain, and to the rest of the GCC reduced by up to 25%.

"We are delighted to see this very real move to customs union, but we have to recognize that there is a period of transition involved in any change of this scale," said Vosper. "Renewing our initiative through the month of February is intended to continue assisting in minimizing the impact of the transition for the region's technology companies."

Although agreed at a GCC level, some aspects of customs union have yet to be implemented at the 'grass roots' level, particularly affecting ground distribution. As well as having the potential to cause delays, these issues can also impact cash flow, cost and fairness in competition. "We have moved forward on many fronts so far, but there are still cases where our customers could incur custom duties twice, once in the UAE and another time once the product reaches the borders of some of the other GCC states," said Vosper. He further explains that it could also mean that total cost of technology shipments might vary between GCC states depending on the local custom duty being levied, and until the final agreement on a unified 5% across all states.

Vosper ended: "Our intentions are to keep the business levels up in the GCC, ensuring our customers have access to best prices at all times, while continue supporting great initiatives taken by the GCC governments."

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