In line with its commitment to expand the Arabic content available on the internet, Dubai Internet City is keen to work with companies such as Google to help achieve this objective.

Latest figures by the World Bank indicate there are more than 320 million Arabic speakers worldwide, while less than one per cent of online content is in Arabic.

At the one-day event hosted by DIC at the ICT free zone, Google met with a select group of 60 business executives to explore potential opportunities in the region as well as share knowledge and learnings from the local industry.

The online search engine firm aims to help users access information in Arabic, while hosting training for entrepreneurs and developers to enhance the web.

The event keynoted by Gisel Hiscock, Google's Director for New Business Development in the Middle East and North Africa, witnessed the participation of four other senior Google executives and a high-profile audience of industry representatives from the education, media and government sectors.

Malek Al Malek, Executive Director, DIC, said: "Dubai is successfully attracting entrepreneurs keen to be at the forefront of developing new technologies in the region. The number of net users in the Middle East has jumped from 3.2m users in 2000 to 41.9m in 2008," according to the Internet World Statistics report.

"While the UAE takes the lead in Arab countries with an internet penetration of 55 per cent, there are opportunities for further development in the region's IT sector. We believe Google initiatives in the UAE and Mena will help stimulate Dubai's knowledge-based economy and result in partnerships that will contribute to the industry's growth in the region," he said.

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