The biggest consumer in Saudi Arabia's expanding IT market is the wholesale and retail sector, which accounted for more than 23 percent of the total IT spending in Saudi Arabia in 2002.
This booming sector spent around $860 million on IT projects and solutions, against the total IT spending of $3.70 billion across all sectors of the Saudi Arabian economy. The figures, released by Madar Research, indicate that the wholesale and retail sectors drive towards IT is fueled primarily by the dominance of large international and regional chains stores. After trade, other big IT spenders are the manufacturing sector and government institutions.
"Saudi Arabia is a classic case of rapid switchover from a conventional economy into a sophisticated IT-driven Knowledge Economy that needs advanced solutions to allow integration with global applications," says Regional Manager, Middle East and Egypt, for eSolutions BEA, Diyaa Zebian.
The Saudi Arabian market, which accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the total IT spending in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), is expected to undergo further IT deployments across businesses, a factor that has prompted top vendors and software solution providers to strengthen their marketing strategies. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
