Information and communication technology (ICT) expenditures in Saudi Arabia are expected to reach $90 billion by 2012 and the Kingdom will account for up to 50% of ICT investments among GCC states, according to the recently released “GCC ICT Infrastructure Report” from Kuwait Financial Center (Markaz). A story on Zawya.com citing the report said that, “Growing consumer adoption of new technologies and services such as broadband internet has helped fuel the increasing ICT spend in Saudi Arabia as an estimated $90 billion is expected to be allocated for various infrastructure projects in the telecom sector over the next three years.”
Over that period ICT in the Kingdom is expected to sustain a “healthy” compound annual growth rate of around 8 percent, according to the Zawya.com article. It goes on to discuss the GITEX KSA 2010 B2B networking event set for April 25-29 in Riyadh.
In January Zawya.com reported on ICT trends in the Gulf and noted, “Spending on ICT in the GCC is likely to reach nearly US$180 bn over the next three years. The pace of growth in IT spending has been decelerating since 2004. IT spending in GCC countries is expected to grow 8-10% driven by the larger countries of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which account for 50% and 25%, respectively, of total GCC ICT spending.
The performance and prospects for the Saudi economy along with the opportunities for greater economic collaboration between the United States and Saudi Arabia will be explored in an upcoming conference, “The U.S.-Saudi Business Opportunities Forum,” in Chicago (Apr 27-29).
