- New partnership set to change Middle East's B2B ecosystem
- Bridging GCC and India's economies to connect with the rest of the world
Dubai, UAE: Search in MENA, the B2B marketplace which connects regional businesses with international clients, and the first business that Dubai Silicon Oasis – Dubai Government has invested in, has announced that it has entered into a joint venture with Kompass International, the worldwide B2B database. The new partnership was made official at the companies’ first instalment of their jointly-held networking event, B2B Meeting Events, which took place recently at the Burj Al Arab, Dubai.
Search in MENA is an effective B2B marketplace for both buyers and sellers in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as for companies wishing to enter the rapidly expanding regional market. The company is building upon the vast potential which is currently in the MENA market: offline trade between the MENA region and major international partners, including Europe, India, and the US, are worth around Dh2.57 trillion (US$700 billion), with between 25 and 35 per cent of this trade from export to specific sectors. However, only 15 per cent of regional companies currently have an online presence, meaning there is great potential in offering small and media enterprises (SMEs) an opportunity to promote their products through the Search in MENA platform, which will in turn bring in more revenue and boost the quality of products.
The new venture is part of Search in MENA’s strategy to establish an integrated B2B ecosystem in the region as it builds an ‘Alibaba for the Middle East’, connecting it with the rest of the world. The partnership will harness Kompass’ extensive ‘glocal’ (global + local) network, with its comprehensive database of over 12 million companies, which spans five continents and 66 countries, and is translated into 26 languages.
In line with the UAE government’s strategy to create a culture of innovation within the emirates, Search in MENA aims to nurture entrepreneurialism and support regional SMEs through the crucial stages of their development. The SearchinMENA.com platform tackles four core issues faced by SMEs: discovery, workflow, data management and price transparency. In addition, Search in MENA and Kompass International will be continuing the B2B Meeting Events series with regular events in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah, designed to support SMEs to expand their operations and reach more customers. The launch event was attended by over 100 SME owners, senior staff and Purchasing and Procurement Managers, who were able to network face-to-face with Korean suppliers and manufacturers for a range of items, including office and home furniture, mattresses and beds, among other related products. Each subsequent event will cover a variety of themes and sectors, offering direct support to traders, distributors, manufacturers, exporters, importers, and business services, and enabling them to make connections, both in the MENA region and further afield. The company will also launch B2B Pavilion, enabling small companies to attend the region’s biggest exhibitions, with more convenience, and at a considerably more economical cost.
“SMEs are vital to the UAE’s ongoing strategy, and will play an important role in driving the country’s growth, developing a diversified economy, and creating strong ties with other international economies,” said Communication Technology Engineer Salim Akil, CEO at Search in MENA. “As part of our mission to link the region’s businesses with the rest of the world, we are dedicated to facilitating the activities of entrepreneurs and SMEs as they reach out to clients and make new connections with business partners across the planet.”
Based on its long experience, its historic know-how in managing and structuring corporate data, and its essential international scope in the globalization era, the ambition of Kompass International is to establish itself as the Better Data reference. A reference, first and foremost, for the quality of its data; geographic coverage, data depth, data reliability and data freshness. Then, a reference for its data ‘intelligence’; that is, the value of data today depends above all on how it is presented with respect to other data and its users’ needs. With its original activity classification combined with the cutting-edge technological resources it uses, the value of the Kompass database takes on much greater magnitude.
Today, Kompass International is a 100% digital company that has acquired the resources to become a major player in the digital economy, and a leader in its worldwide market. At a time when Big Data is a priority challenge for most companies, even though they are often unable to take the measure of it, the Kompass International ‘better data company’ has become an indispensable partner.
Mukhtar Ahmed Shaikh, Director and CEO of Kompass India and UAE, underlines the company’s strength, with a 6-million B2B database of Europe, USA, and India. Kompass India is part of Kompass Group, which has a presence in 66 countries. He is equally excited about the new partnership with Search in MENA, which will be a win-win situation to all related stakeholders under this initiative. The idea is to facilitate and help traders, distributors, manufacturers, exporters and importers to extend their reach within MENA and international markets with the SME community.
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For more information about MENA Network (Search in MENA), contact:
Ava Karvan
PR Manager
Tel: +9714 388 9802
Email: ak@o2.ae
About Search in MENA
MENA Network LTD manages Search in MENA.com which is a b2b marketplace for products and services of the companies in the Middle East & North Africa. MENA Network’s HQ is located in Dubai, Silicon Oasis and has offices in Riyadh and San Francisco. Search in MENA.com is aiming to be rated as the largest b2b marketplace of companies in the region, consistently providing the combination of a wide variety of services, business information, visibility and outstanding service, that creates an extraordinary lead generation experience.
Mission
Our mission is to establish an integrated e-commerce b2b ecosystem in the MENA region by enabling buyers and sellers to interact on a global level. The mission can be achieved by introducing necessary tools on the platform, where users will be able to send targeted trade leads, post trade offers, announce tenders, exchange products samples or buy and sell products. Search in MENA .com aims to solve four core issues for SMEs discovery, workflow, data management, and price transparency. It helps merchants organize relevant information to aid in comparison, negotiating, order-tracking, and future re-ordering.
http://searchinmena.com/
About KOMPASS
Kompass is a worldwide database present on five continents in 66 countries.
It offers international data coverage unique in the world. Its “Glocal” (Global + Local) organisation of more than 500 people working for Kompass worldwide means it offers close proximity to its clients and users, with homogeneous data regardless of the country of the company consulted.
The data is translated into 26 languages, updated locally, and accessible for each country in the network on a dedicated site. Kompass International is the operator of the Kompass trade name in France, is present in six European countries and the USA through its subsidiaries, and operates in 58 other countries via partnerships with local companies using the Kompass licence.
http://www.kompass-international.com
© Press Release 2016
