The Economic Development Board (EDB) will take part in the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (Gitex) for the fifth year, it was announced yesterday (September 24).

The annual technology trade show will be taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from October 12 to 16, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Launched in 1981, Gitex is the largest ICT event in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

This year's exhibition will bring together more than 142,000 ICT professionals, 25,000 high-level executives, and more than 3,700 exhibitors from 61 countries.

The EDB will be present alongside Bahraini government and private sector institutions including the eGovernment Authority, Ahlia University, the General Organisation for Youth and Sport and the Bahrain Technology Companies Society at this year's event.

"Gitex is one of the leading regional ICT sector events and ensuring a strong presence for Bahrain at such events is key to attracting inward investment in our burgeoning ICT sector," EDB business development executive director Vivian Jamal said.

"We are excited for the opportunity to meet new companies to discuss how Bahrain can best serve their needs, in order to become an ideal location for them to base their operations to access the fast growing GCC market."

Boasting one of the most liberal and advanced ICT infrastructures and policies in the region, Bahrain has maintained its position in the top 30 economies in The Global Information Technology Report 2014, produced by the World Economic Forum in co-operation with INSEAD, a report which provides an overview of the current state of ICT readiness in 148 economies.

According to the report, which was released in April, Bahrain ranks 25th in terms of least costly access to ICT services, ranks 14th in uptake by individuals, one of the highest in the world, with a very high number of Internet users, where Bahrain ranks 10th globally. Bahrain also ranks in the top five countries in the number of households with a personal computer, coming in at number three.

The kingdom also has a strong vision to develop the sector, ranking 14th and offers a wide range of services online.

"With around 400 ICT companies present in Bahrain, 50 of which are specifically software companies, the transportation and communication sector contributed 6.9 per cent to Bahrain's GDP in 2013, and experienced a growth of 3.1 per cent from 2012, and we are keen to drive the sector to expand further. GITEX is an important regional platform to promote Bahrain's ICT sector, alongside leading regional and international players," Jamal said.

Gitex 2013 was a great success for EDB, with multiple activities carried out to promote the kingdom's national economy and its investment environment. - TradeArabia News Service