Alawy, an American software development firm that specializes in developing custom Arabic language software and Internet applications for companies with business interests in the Middle East, was one of seven American companies invited to attend the Third Annual US Information Technology (IT) Trade Mission to Egypt. The mission, hosted at the Conrad Hotel in Cairo, Egypt from May 12-16, 2002, was organized by the International Executive Service Corps (IESC) and sponsored by USAID. Rachel Alawy, vice president of Business Development for Alawy, said that the purpose of the company's visit to Cairo was not necessarily to look for clients, but instead to forge bonds with Egyptian IT companies. “We want to build equitable partnerships,” she said. Alawy's target market is American companies who want to better serve their Arabic-speaking clients with language specific IT services. “While Alawy has been approached to localize software developed by our clients, that is not the full extent of our services. We are a software development company, and that means that we also architect and build stand-alone and web applications to serve the unique needs of both the Arabic language and Arab business practices,” Alawy said. “We expected to find companies nearly exclusively using Microsoft development tools… we were pleased to find that there are companies emphasizing Java, Linux/UNIX and Apache technologies. We are working out agreements with these to collaborate on future software development projects,” Ahmed Alawy, Alawy's CEO and chief product architect, stated. Alawy also used the Egypt trip to test the climate for establishing a forum for standardizing Arabic software development practices. The company is interested in pursuing the goal of standardization as a vehicle for advancing both native and localized Arabic language technologies. The company was founded in 2000, and is privately held. It is based in Hartford, Connecticut, USA. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
