GULF REGION LIKELY TO SPEND US$4.5 BLN ON IT INFRASTRUCTURE

DUBAI, March 12 (Bernama) -- Arabian Gulf countries are forecast to spend
almost US$4.5 billion on information technology and communications hardware for
civil projects under construction between now and 2011.

The forecast by Dubai-based market research firm Proleads' on the
communications hardware capital expenditure, covered all six Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The UAE is predicted to account for the lion's share of infrastructure
demand for materials such as communications cabling -- almost US$3.3 billion of
the total.

The figures were released ahead of the Middle East Communications (MECOM)
2009 exhibition and conference in Abu Dhabi in May, by IIR Middle East, the
organiser of the event in a statement Wednesday.

The forecast also indicated that mixed use civil projects would account
for the biggest proportion of communications hardware expenditure in the period
at around US$2.95 billion.

Residential development would account for a further US$674 million and
commercial developments such as airports, offices, hotels, railways and retail
at about US$577 million, said the statement.

"The continued growth of information technology and communications
infrastructure continues to be a major element in the development of the region
in spite of a slowdown in other sectors," said Ed Malkoun, group exhibition
director of IIR Middle East.
-- BERNAMA