Gulf countries will spend almost $4.5 billion on information technology and communications hardware for civil projects under construction, according to new figures released today.
The forecast indicates that mixed use civil projects will account for the biggest proportion of communication hardware expenditure in the period at around $2.95 billion. Residential development will account for a further $674 million and commercial developments such as airports, offices, hotels, railways and retail for about $577 million.
The forecast, made by project database company Proleads, comes in advance of the Middle East Communications (MECOM) exhibition and conference which takes place at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 25-27 May 2009.
The Proleads forecast for communications hardware capital expenditure covers all six Gulf Co-operation Council countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and shows the UAE accounting for the lion's share of infrastructure demand for materials such communications cabling. The UAE forecast amounts to almost $3.3 billion of the total.
"The continued growth of information technology and communications infrastructure continues to be a major element in the development of the region in spite of slowdowns in other sectors," said Ed Malkoun, the group exhibition director of IIR Middle EastIIR Middle East, organisers of MECOM 2009.