AMMAN - Focusing on e-commerce and further developing Arabic content can help Jordanian IT start-ups grow in the region, according to experts in the sector.
Noting that there is huge potential for growth in these fields, the IT experts added that the number of IT start-ups that rely on providing services through the Internet is on the rise not only in Jordan but across the Arab world.
"E-commerce and Arabic content development are still at their early stages in the Arab world. In the next few years, I expect a boom in this industry, and start-ups can benefit from that," Samih Toukan, chairman and CEO of the Jabbar Internet Group, said during a press conference on Wednesday to announce investments in local start-ups in the IT sector.
"Investments in e-commerce are still in their early stages, but investors are more willing to start a project in this sector than in Arabic content because profits and revenues are fast in e-commerce, while in Arabic content, it takes a longer time to reap the fruits," added Toukan, one of the two original founders of Maktoob.com, which was sold to Yahoo in 2009.
Experts said e-commerce activities and Arabic content on the web are still below their potential, stressing that demand is rising for these services in the Arab world.
Only about 12 per cent of Internet users in Jordan search online to purchase items, compared with 18 per cent in the UAE and 25 per cent in Saudi Arabia, while only 5 per cent of Internet users in Jordan actually buy items online, compared with 14 per cent in the UAE and 8 per cent in Saudi Arabia, according to www.insightsmena.com, a site recently launched by Google.
According to Google, only 2 per cent of web content is in Arabic, although Arabic speakers account for 5 per cent of global Internet users.
Oasis 500 Chairman Usama Fayyad agreed that investments in Arabic content and e-commerce are "promising" in the Arab world.
"The majority of investments that emerge in the IT sector are related to developing content in Arabic and promoting e-commerce. In addition, there are also other fields with opportunities for growth, such as animation and mobile apps," Fayyad said Wednesday.
Marwan Juma, former minister of information and communications technology, called for more support for start-ups in the IT sector, which he said is an asset for the Kingdom.
"Supporting start-ups leads to establishing companies, which eventually employ Jordanians and can address the issue of unemployment," he said at Wednesday's press conference.
© Jordan Times 2011
