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Hasibat Launches Region-wide Online Market in Kuwait
May 14, 2006 - Kuwait
Hasibat today announced the successful launch of a region –wide on line market place, developed by e-commerce service leader GulfTradaNet (GTN).
The historical launch follows an agreement signed early last year by the Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) with Nesma advanced technology set up to network under the GTN brand.   GTN enables companies to buy and sell goods online and securely process all related documents. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of the region’s economies, particularly stand to benefit.
Hasibat Holding Company was the first company to recognize the opportunities that GTN had to offer and came on board as a partner and distributor for Kuwait. “Hasibat is proud to be a part of this important BOT project for the Federation of GCC Chambers, the impact of which is already being felt across the region. Hasibat is an investor with 30 percent in the project. It is also the exclusive distributor for GTN services in Kuwait,” said Salem Al-Ghadhoori, General Manager Hasibat Holding at the press conference. “A wide range of Business to Business (B2B), Business to Consumer (B2C) and Government services are available, opening a window for new partnerships to be formed not just with other GCC companies but internationally as well,” he continued.
Highlighting the significance of GTN for the region Al-Ghadhoori said,” Internet use in the region has been growing tremendously in recent years. It went up 300% in the Middle East between 2000 and 2005 alone. And in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf’s largest economy, that figure has topped 1,000 percent. Currently, Kuwait has four licensed Internet Service Providers (ISP) and more than 50 sub-ISPs, estimates of total Internet users in Kuwait, range from 180,000 and up.   “Kuwait, being one of the region’s main business centers, is an important component of the network and vital to its success,” said Mr. Mohammed Abdullah Al Mulla - General Secretary of the Federation of GCC Chambers.
 “The Kuwaiti business community welcomes initiatives which promote the use of new technologies to foster and boost trade,” said Mr. Saud Al Zaid from the Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
GTN includes a host of state-of-the-art subscription-based services, including the Members Net database of over 325,000 GCC businesses, the Document Net exchange, Procurement Net, Auction Net and Tenders Net.
“The impact of this new service is already being felt across the region, allowing members to save both time and money, all that is required to be plugged into GTN’s unique services and gain access to buyers and sellers all over the region and the world is an internet connected PC. That’s all, “said William Rowe, General Manager of GTN
 In his concluding remarks Al-Ghadhoori said,” Kuwait is an important regional business center and an integral part of GTN’s network. Hasibat hopes that local business will take full advantage by this unique and powerful tool, which will certainly open new doors and form lasting partnerships that span across the globe.”About:
The Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) is a public utility, non-governmental organization. Its purpose is to regulate, represent, defend and promote commercial and industrial interests across the GCC. The FGCCC aims to develop the community by supporting economic and production potential for the good of the GCC in general and the interests of its members in particular.
Gulf TradaNet (www.gulftradanet.com.) is a special purpose E-Business Company; its shareholders include Hasibat Holding and
Nesma Advanced Technology (www.nesma.net): A leading modern Saudi conglomerate – playing an important role in the development of Saudi industry for over two decades. The Company is active in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America with a global Work force in excess of 10,000 people. It has a strategic focus on Construction, contracting, trading, retail, telecoms, electromechanical, IT, and many other services. Nesma is the largest domestic telecom contractor in Saudi and is the largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the GCC.
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