| ATTN: Business
Editor |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, February 19th, 2001 |
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INTERNET PENETRATION IN KSA ATTRACTS TOP WORLD PLAYERS
Maktoob.com Chooses Kingdom as Launching Pad for its Business
Solutions
Riyadh: Maktoob.com, the largest Arabic online community,
has singled out Saudi Arabia as a promising international hub for
future Internet-based business operations in the Middle East,
claiming that the Kingdom’s Net-friendly approach was leading
major international players to explore the exciting possibilities
in this vast market.
Releasing the first-ever Maktoob.com survey for Saudi Arabia,
Samih Toukan, Managing Partner of Maktoob.com, revealed that
although the Kingdom was a late entrant in the international Net
race, the level of Internet penetration here had increased
considerably over the past two years.
“It is gratifying to note that Internet users in Saudi Arabia
have expanded their Internet horizons to beyond the traditional
communication-and-surf applications,” Toukan enthused. “In
fact, we would like to encourage this positive growth by
introducing business solutions that would transform
traditionally-run entities here into organisations with a serious
international business outlook.”
Maktoob.com recently launched a comprehensive suite of business
solutions designed to empower small and medium businesses in the
region with the most revolutionary business tools that would give
them an edge in their operations. The full range of the Maktoob
Business Solutions will be on display at the upcoming Saudi Com,
to be held in Riyadh, from February 18-22, 2001.
Maktoob.com has put its vast range of expertise and research in
designing the business solutions, which include interactive
Web-based tools such as Instant Messaging, Email facility,
complete Virus protection, Voice mail and WAP. “These business
solutions are quite user-friendly and require the minimum amount
of training while allowing different sections of the company to
think and act as one,” Toukan said.
According to the Maktoob.com survey (see attached), online users
from the Kingdom form the largest portion of the total worldwide
Maktoob.com membership, currently standing at 800,000 members. “Official
figures show that there are more than 400,000 Internet users in
Saudi Arabia and we can proudly claim that 150,000 of our members
are from the Kingdom, besides 200,000 unique Maktoob.com visitors
from the country,” Toukan said.
He added that 70 per cent of the Maktoob.com members are between
the ages of 18-35 years, who use the Internet chiefly for
web-based communication. Arabic users form more than two-thirds of
the bilingual (English & Arabic) interface, with those using the
Arabic interface registering a higher frequency of log-ins to
Maktoob.com.
Maktoob.com has become a landmark development for the Arab world,
emphasizing the region’s growing importance as a key international
IT player. Since its launch two years ago, Maktoob.com has played
a crucial role in uniting Arabs worldwide by providing
sophisticated and reliable web-based communications and community
tools, including the Arab world’s first free bilingual Web-based
email service.
Maktoob.com is the first Arabic / English web-based email
solutions provider and leading virtual community for Arabs around
the world. Launched in October 1998, Maktoob.com gained instant
success among Arabs around the world. It currently boasts of a
membership base of 800,000 users worldwide.
Besides the free email service, the company offers a range of
interactive web-based facilities including Voice Mail, WAP, a
comprehensive business directory, Arabic music, chat, online
auction, electronic greeting cards and information services.
For more details, please contact,
Alawi Al Jifri
P.O. Box: 14235, Jeddah 21424
Tel / Fax: 02-6643720 / 6632812
Email: headline@sbm.net.sa
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