The United Arab Emirates (UAE) manufacturing sector had reached 18 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2000, growing almost 10 percent from 1999, according to information from the ministry of planning.
The ministry further noted that this growth is as a response to public and private sector efforts to grow various industries, in addition to the large number of small and medium industries, which were established in free zones in all over the Emirates.
UAE ministry of finance and industry figures show that the number of establishments registered grew by almost nine percent between 1998 and 1999, and by over 13 percent in 2000.
“The rapid development of a strong small and medium business (SMB) sector in the Middle East will depend heavily on the shrewd use of appropriate technology, particularly networking and Internet technologies”, is the strong call from Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet at GITEX this year.
"Local companies, growing locally, and generating revenues locally will have a huge stabilizing effect on development and skills in the region. As small and medium enterprises grow, their people and capital grow, increasing the capacity for organizations here to solve their own problems, and develop their own solutions locally, rather than depending on importing technology and skills from the Far East and Europe," said Rowland Griffiths, regional director of Cisco Systems Middle East.
"Cisco strongly believes that Internet technology will be largest stimulant to these organizations to take the big step: from a small business just getting by, to becoming a developing enterprise that will one day compete with the best. The basic connectivity devices initially need to be imported from the US and Europe, but once the infrastructure is in place, the only challenge to local industry is their own innovation and entrepreneurship," continued Griffiths.
Cisco launched its "E-fficiency" campaign earlier this year as a first step towards helping small and medium businesses understand how they can use Internet technologies to cut costs, be more efficient and address more customers more effectively. The Internet Roadmap to Business E-fficiency is an education program that aims to first inform SMBs about what the Internet can do for them.
Cisco Systems is headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco’s regional Middle East office is located in Dubai, UAE. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
