DOHA: Businessmen from the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Qatar are encouraged to establish their own website to gain better market share not only locally but globally.
This was the common view shared by four panelists from the Supreme Council of Information, Communication and Technology Qatar (ictQATAR) and a local business leader during a panel discussion at second business seminar dubbed "Realising the Power of E-Marketing" yesterday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Ali Al-Khulaifi, ictQATAR E-enterprise manager, said businesses in Qatar need to know how to utilise the internet to market themselves if they want to grow and compete on the global stage. " No longer is marketing over the internet is optional, it is essential to long-term success," he said.
The prospects for SMEs to develop their own websites and be more accessible to their customers are bright since ictQATAR introduced its new online business directory during the seminar.
The electronic "yellow pages" set to be launched in April this year will be a new way for companies to market their services online and allow potential customers to easily search them by services. Al-Khulaifi said the 2009 online directory with Arabic and English languages can be accessed through the internet and mobile phones using Portable Document Format.
"We have a promising future because SMEs now began to automate their services," said Rami Adwan, deputy CEO of Tameer Jordan, who was the keynote speaker of the seminar.
He however pointed out e-commerce through the SMEs websites are still few and lagging behind than the rest of advance countries. "We still have a long way to go before we can maximise it. This is a long term process and it will not happen overnight," he said.
Adwan said there is gradual change in the Arab world in general and Qatar in particular which has highest percentage in computer use and the fourth highest in internet usage in the region.
Underscoring the urgent need for SMEs to start building their own websites, Adwan said it is also necessary to make such websites attractive by its good name, visibility, design and the best services it can offer to customers.
He said extra tools for websites like catalogues, shopping carts and links to electronic payment may incur additional cost but it would be rewarding investment. He added it is also essential to update website often to keep customers abreast with their markets.
© The Peninsula 2009
