Often referred to as MENA by international obligations, the Middle East’s business trend is changing with Technology. In recent years, businesses in the Middle East, as well as North Africa, are being transformed by digital technology and the Internet of Things, with digital transformation predicted to become increasingly significant for the region’s economic growth and competitiveness.
Because of its thirst for innovation, the Middle East is well placed to benefit from digital prospects. While the United Arabs Emirate leads several MENA markets in terms of everything with Morocco emerging as the smartest.
A youthful tech-savvy zone, as well as excellent information and communication technology, infrastructure, are essential components in their achievement, but they also set high standards for struggling MENA nations like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran. According to Euromonitor International’s study, capitalizing on this sector can contribute billions to MENA nations’ GDP and income for firms working in the Area.
The Smart Gulf Cities
By 2025, developing countries and the Middle East will account for almost half of all smart cities worldwide. According to Ahmad bin Humaidan, Director General of Dubai Smart City Government, a Smart City depends on digital technology, also known as ICT, to “improve the quality, functioning of the urban services, reduce costs, and interact with its citizens more effectively and actively. The worldwide market potential for the gulf and smart cities is anticipated to level $3.3 trillion by 2025, according to Euromonitor International, with the Gulf Cooperation Council projected to become a global leader in the Internet of Things linked technologies.
UAE Ahead in ICT
The United Arab Emirates has broken through in creating ideal circumstances for the development of advanced technologies. Dubai boasts one of the advanced linked and frequented airports in the world, as well as excellent infrastructure services, and advanced mobile and telecom networks. The country adheres to international standards, has sensible laws in place, is a leader of public-private partnerships. They have also prioritized innovation and technology as part of its long-term government plan.
These favorable circumstances have bolstered collaborations between technology, telecommunications, and financial firms. In fact, there has been worldwide recognition of the advancement of payroll software in UAE.
On records, one of the crucial signals of a significant partnership between fintech and telecommunications firms is mobile payments. Retailing proximity payment has led the way as one of the advanced sectors in the United Arabs Emirates. Since 2014, the lodging industry has been steadily growing, with the use of mobile device payments in the sector anticipated to treble in by 2020. In the United Arab Emirate, mobile payments are led by transportation and retail, with both sectors taking advantage of the large consumer base that is comfortable paying for services using their phones. This is likely to continue to be the situation for the United Arabs Emirates in the years ahead.
Companies Making the Middle East Smart
Few companies have showcased their contributions to the changing face of business in the middle east, with Bayzat taking payroll software in UAE to a different level. Virtual reality headset Oculus Rift has disrupted the travel and tourism and toys and games sectors, Netflix has disrupted communication and entertainment, online meal-ordering service Delivery Hero has disrupted consumer foodservice, and Uber has disrupted transportation. In the projection period, connectivity combined with innovation is projected to significantly enhance people’s lives in the Middle East, as well as increase cooperation and investment in the region.
General Electric is one firm that has actively cooperated with important stakeholders in Mena to make the area smart. The company announced new alliances and technology centers in November 2015 to help consumers with digital industrial transformation. According to GE, the Industrial Internet may unlock a yearly economic value of $465 billion across the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan by 2025. Snapphire, Engro Powergen, and other energy and gas businesses are among the major participants in the partnership to create industrial internet solutions.
Conclusion
The smart city environment in the MENA area will continue to develop in the next years, with Iran opening up to the globe and Saudi Arabia recently announcing a $16 billion dollar investment fund with Egypt. New markets, such as Morocco and the UAE, might emerge to outperform established smart markets. In the IT and telecommunications industries, international businesses from Western Europe and China have already begun to collaborate with Iran.
In 2015, MTN Irancell (a prominent Iranian telecom firm) introduced IoT solutions to Iran for the first time. Iran’s 3G/4G market is growing quickly, with an average annual growth rate of 36% projected over the next five years. With international sanctions eased, multinational IT companies are anticipated to spend heavily in Iran’s highly educated customers and computer-savvy market in the digital industry. Iran’s 3g/4g market is anticipated to expand 36 percent by 2021.
If all things go by plan, the future looks great as we are going to see new industries contributing to the changing face of business in the middle east.
