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DUBAI: Spending on information technology (IT) fell 13 percent inEgypt last year after the fall of former president Hosni Mubarakand will be flat for 2012 as a political void stalls governmentinvestment in the sector, IDC said on Sunday. The research firm said Egypt's IT spending will be $2.13 billion in2012, the third-highest level in the Middle East behind SaudiArabia's projected $6.98 billion expenditure and the United ArabEmirates' $5.18 billion. The latter both have much smallerpopulations than the North African state. Spending this year will be at 2011 levels, although down from a2010 peak of $2.4 billion. "There was a significant contraction in Egypt. We couldpotentially see a pick-up in the second half of 2012, but it alldepends on the political situation," Jyoti Lalchandani, an IDCregional vice-president, told Reuters on the sidelines of a newsconference. "Despite any positive news on the political side, the marketcannot recover in 2012, which will see almost flat IT spending.We're down to the 2008, 2009 IT spending levels in Egypt." The IT slump mirrors a wider malaise which has seen Egypt's economyforecast to grow 1.8 percent in the year to June 30. That is far short of 6 percent-plus growth rate economists sayEgypt needs to start creating enough jobs for its 80 millionpeople, while tourist revenue and foreign investment has plungedfollowing Mubarak's exit and subsequent clashes against the rulingmilitary council. In Egypt, major IT spending has typically been in the governmentand financial services sectors which account for 40 percent oftotal expenditures, Lalchandani said. "With the developments politically, there are no decisionmakers making decisions on IT," he said. "As a result,the public sector spend on IT has reduced dramatically in the lastcouple of years. "On the banking side, there's a lot more caution given it hasbeen a challenge attracting investments. With these two key sectorsout of the way, there's simply no way the Egyptian market canrecover and come back." Across the Middle East, about 20 percent of IT spending isconsumer, with the remainder from the public and private secto r. I am an expert from metaltincontainer.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Empty Gift Tins , Tin Cookie Containers Manufacturer, Square Tin Containers,and more.
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