MGT300-LOCAL ICT

SHARJAH, 15 January, 2008 (Tuesday) – Multimedia Development Corporation’s (MDeC) chief executive officer Dato' Badlisham Ghazali (picture) today praised the efforts of Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) in spearheading the initiative for the ICT industry to penetrate the Middle East market following the success of the MSC Malaysia delegation to the inaugural Malaysia Services Exhibition 2008 held in Sharjah this week.

Discussing how Malaysian technology companies are furthering their role as key providers of services to Arab businesses, Badlisham maintained that Malaysia’s ability to provide what he dubbed the four C’s – Credible, Comprehensive, Cutting-edge and Cost-competitive – has transformed the country’s IT industry into a world competitor.

“MSC Malaysia-status companies have the expertise, they have the human talent, and they have the experience. As the new world specialist, we have the tools, the cultural affinity and the capabilities to develop this region’s potential. Personally, I believe that we both can benefit from one another in terms of knowledge transfer and technology adoption,” added Badlisham.

“We’ve risen to become the third largest outsourcing hub worldwide (after India and China), thanks to our skills, our experience, and our ability to adapt to the changing needs of businesses and the technology sector,” explained Badlisham.

“This week we have had only 10 of the couple of thousand companies that MDeC represents, and yet we’ve managed to create such a strong interest around our capabilities and what we have to offer to the new world, emerging markets such as the Middle East.”

Generating over 99 business meetings and a number of agreements, including a memorandum of understanding between security solutions provider Extol and BenZ International for the MSC firm’s network security management solutions, the Malaysian IT sector has again proved its ability to be the partner of choice for local solution providers as well as the supplier of choice for the region’s businesses.

As a tribute to Malaysia’s leading role in the global IT industry, Kuala Lumpur will be hosting the bi-annual World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) this year. The WCIT is the signature forum of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of 73 information technology (IT) industry associations that represents over 90% of the world’s IT market.

Some 2,500 industry captains, government leaders and distinguished academics from more than 80 countries are set to converge on Kuala Lumpur for WCIT 2008 from May 18 – 22. WCIT 2008 is regarded as the premier global ICT forum for business networking and the exchange of policies, ideas and technology, and Ghazali is looking forward to continuing the positive momentum from MSE 2008 over the coming months in the run up to WCIT 2008.

“Visitors to MSE 2008 have only had a taste of what we have to offer. I myself, my team at MDeC, and all the MSC Status companies present here hope to see even more Middle Eastern business partners in Kuala Lumpur to truly appreciate how far we’ve come as an industry and what we can give to the Middle East in terms of competitive, comprehensive, credible, and cutting edge solutions,” concluded Badlisham.

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