350 participants from Mena vote for winners in 22 categories at 'Middle East Retail Academy: 2009 Awards'

Hosted by Distree Events, the organisers of leading Information Communications Technology (ICT) events in the EMEA region, over 150 retailers voted for the winners in the vendor and distributor categories while a panel of 50 vendor representatives voted for the retailer categories.

"We congratulate all the winners," said Farouk Hemraj, CEO at Distree Events, the awards organiser. "There were a few surprise winners but the votes reflected the level of interaction and investment in the channel by both vendors and retailers. As the organiser, we take pride in our transparency and the live counting of votes is a reflection of this. The MERA Awards set the benchmark for channel awards in the region and are an integral part of the DCC MEA experience."

The MERA Awards were launched in 2008, creating a clear and transparent platform to recognise excellence in the region's consumer electronics and ICT channel, with awards for vendors, distributors and retailers.

The awards are held in conjunction with DCC MEA, where pre-qualified ICT and CE retail executives from across the Middle East market will have the opportunity to review the latest products from the 50-plus vendors set to attend this year's event.

With retailers from 15-plus countries across the MEA region attending DCC MEA, the event offers vendors insight into markets across the region and the opportunity to accelerate or improve their go-to-market retail strategy.