ATTN: Business Editor	For Immediate Release Monday, March 27, 2000
Maktoob.com establishes first worldwide Arabic chat community Overwhelming Response to Web Interaction   Dubai: In an unprecedented development, Maktoob.com, the Arab world’s leading web communications service, has moved towards bringing the worldwide Arab community closer by setting up a chat service solely dedicated for Arab users spread across the world. The setting up of the Maktoob Chat is another first by the leading Arabic email provider, which recently registered an astounding 250,000-strong membership a few months after it set up the first Arabic/English email service. The bilingual service (www.maktoob.com) allows users to send and receive email and chat messages with an English operating system. “We are simply overwhelmed by the level of response from the Arab world’s thriving web community to this extraordinary service,” said Hussam Khoury, Head of Technology at Maktoob.com. “As a result, we have taken the initiative to support this positive trend by uniting people with similar interests from around the world. We believe that promoting this kind of healthy interaction between users will eventually help them in reinforcing their social and cultural bonds.” Besides granting instant access and quicker communication, the facility has been designed in an easy-to-understand format. Besides, users can employ either English or Arabic languages or both while communicating with other chatters. Besides, Maktoob Chat eliminates the need for an Arabic operating system to chat with other users. Khoury said that the coming months would see Maktoob.com introducing a wide range of sophisticated communications tools for online users. “The Internet world is advancing at a rapid pace and hence, it is imperative that we offer new features from time to time to sustain the interest of our online users,” he added. At the same time, Khoury pointed out that Maktoob.com would remain unstinting in its mission towards promoting Arab culture and traditions. “Unlike other chat systems, Maktoob users are drawn from different age groups and social structures,” he revealed. “Therefore, Maktoob Chat is an excellent method to help them break down their social and regional barriers and share common interests with people from around the world.” He also added that the Maktoob Chat was a well-developed service, which was designed after studying successful international models. The setting up of Maktoob Chat is only a precursor of things to come from Maktoob, Khoury explained. “We will be shortly setting up an exciting range of e-commerce based facilities that are designed to assist the business community in exploring the full potential of the Internet and enhancing their online image,” he added. Khoury also voiced his optimism that the rapid pace of Internet development in the Arab world would eventually lead to a growing number of new players and technology that was of international standards. He added that Maktoob was currently exploring the potential of e-commerce extensively and would soon offer a range of e-commerce services that were tailored to meet the specific requirements of Arabic users. “Although our main goal would be to attract more members and to refine our technology, we will be offering many new exciting services to the Maktoob community such as faxing, e-commerce, translation, among others,” he added. At present, besides the email service Maktoob.com offers a host of interactive services such as electronic greeting cards, business directories and Arabic music and information services. Maktoob.com is the first Arabic/English web-based email solution and the leading virtual community for Arabs around the world. The service became an instant success when it was launched in October 1998.   For more details, please contact, Edward D’Mello Headline Public Relations Tel: 009714 – 3475006; Fax: 009714 – 3475013 e-mail: edward@headlinepr.com
Back