Albahhar.com to increase content with AFP

Under the agreement, AFP will provide the Albahhar portal (www.albahhar.com) with a range of Arabic and English news services. A range articles from human interest to international affairs will be posted on the site each day as events unfold throughout the world, adding to the already extensive number of stories supplied to the site from AFP.

"With their global footprint and reputation for integrity disseminating news, AFP is in a prime position to supply the bilingual content we need for our users," said Abdulla Hashim, Senior Manager Business Development and Sales, EIM. "This relationship will help to further position Albahhar.com apart from the Middle East portal competition when it comes to gathering local, regional and international news."

Up-to-the minute information on a broad range of issues will be constantly fed to the site, covering geographical and industry specific topics. In additional to the existing country specific news that already exists, new news feeds from Canada and Asia have been added, bringing the total number of countries covered to 27. Health, Science and celebrity gossip will also be available and provide in-depth articles, features and analysis on favourite topics.

Importantly for the region's Internet development, Arabic users will have access to high-quality Arabic content ranging from current affairs, culture, sport and news. A recent survey found that just 0.9% of the world's websites cater to Arabic speakers, leaving many opportunities for high quality sites to forge a reputation. By continuing to develop strong partnerships, EIM believes Albahhar will continue to meet and develop the market through rich portal content and online services.

"We have been working closely with EIM to make Albahhar.com the Middle East's premiere English and Arabic language portal." Abd Al Wahab Ajour, Sales and Marketing Manager for the Gulf, AFP. "Through this extended partnership with Albahhar.com we can provide the most accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage possible."

In addition to providing news, the portal also offers a variety of other services including ArabVista, the multilingual search engine, online shopping, web-directories, an online Job search, educational tools for children, entertainment, gaming, Arabic literature and poetry, and chat services, among an array of other useful options.

According to EIM, in excess of 40 million pages from the portal are viewed each month. "There are more than 5.12 million Arabic speaking users of the Internet worldwide," added Hashim. "There can be no doubt that Albahhar.com is fulfilling the demand for online news and services for the Arabic community."