Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Saif Al Sharqi inaugurates Second Digital Consumer Channel conference for Middle East and Africa in Fujeirah

Sheikh Mohammed is spearheading the Fujeirah Government Electronic department to adopt the latest technology to make all the various services offered by the government departments of the Emirate easily accessible by both its citizens and residents.

The event, combining conference presentations, debates, panel discussions and personal meetings with exhibition opportunities is being held from 15th to 18th May 2006 at Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujeirah.

"At Al Aqah we provide guests with the ultimate meeting experience by combining state-of-the art-facilities, with innovative ideas and unparalleled levels of service. Distree Event's decision to host another event at Al Aqah further enhances our reputation as the corporate hotel of choice and we look forward to welcoming key technology decision-makers from around the world this week to our award-winning resort for a few days of work and play," said Patrick Antaki, general manager, Le Meridien Al Aqah.

"The first event (2005) was so successful, we are pleased to see so many of them reconfirm their attendance to this year's event," said Farouk Hemraj, CEO for Distree Events. "This year we have also expanded from just covering Middle East and North Africa to include South Africa and CIS countries. Our research has consistently shown us that senior decision-makers greatly prefer attending focused and private events like DCC-MEA because it offers them the perfect combination of the privacy and comfort of a high-level conference and the breadth of a trade show."

The event is sponsored by AMD and Toshiba as Platinum sponsors supported by Logitech, and Panasonic as Gold sponsors and Palm One as the silver sponsor. Lexmark and Mobility are providing technical support including printers and wireless networking. Gfk is providing and presenting research information for the conference.

"The digital consumer market in this region is booming, and channel leaders have recognized DCC-MEA as an exceptional opportunity to network with other major players in the region,"

said Hemraj. "In this day of digital convergence, the role of the retailer is changing and they are keen to discover exciting new products for their stores and network with their counterparts from around the region."

Retailers attending DCC-MEA cover the full spectrum of the digital consumer channel including computer chain stores, mobile chain stores, photo equipment stores, electrical specialists, mass merchants, hypermarket chains and independent outlets.

DCC-MEA follows the special DISTREE formula — a high-level, full service event in the comfort of a world-class venue. Before the event, retailers and vendors are both given a special user name and password that they use to pre-book one-on-one appointments and boardroom meetings. It is a full service event, providing a well balanced combination of boardroom meetings presented by vendors, prescheduled one-on-one meetings, high-level content from industry experts and networking opportunities.

Hemraj continued, "We remove all the organisational and logistical burdens, leaving both the vendors and the retailers free to concentrate on what they do best - focus on business."

DCC MEA is the third channel event hosted by Distree Events in Fujeirah. It is an annual event that started in 2005 followed by Digital Business Channel (DBC) MEA in November 2005. The next event for the Business channel will be DBC MEA scheduled to be held from 18 to 21 September 2006.