COMTRUST JOINS SUMMIT DUBAI AS CO SPONSOR

Comtrust, the first e-commerce infrastructure provider in the Middle East Region, is confirmed to play a key role in the upcoming Summit Dubai e-business conference, October 2-3 2001. Comtrust joins Summit Dubai's patron, Dubai Internet City (DIC) and sponsor, Bywater PLC, as co-sponsor.

Farooq Hasan, Comtrust's marketing director is also set to be one of Summit Dubai's eight expert speakers, ready to debate the 'hype or reality' issue currently clouding e-business uptake for companies of all sizes.

"Establishing an e-business infrastructure is the way forward. It is a must for Corporate Middle East and we will be focussing the issues surrounding e-business implementation with the aim of showing that it can be a smooth ride," said Hasan.

At the same time, Comtrust, a first-time Summit speaker, sets out to put the record straight on an array of widely misconstrued e-definitions : e-business, e-commerce, m-commerce, e-leadership, e-tax and so on, suggesting that confusion has led to resistance on the part of the consumer and corporations.

He acknowledged that social fears and resistance to change is a regional challenge for companies looking to adopt an e-business infrastructure but stressed that these barriers are being eroded as the public become more aware.

"E-commerce is not first about technology - it its about new ways of doing business, and an e-business environment can be efficient, cost effective and safe for all users," said Hasan.

On on-line security, Comtrust is geared to lay the myths of security loopholes during on-line trading on the table stressing that on-line business trading, transactions and general activity is 'as safe as houses'.

"We will be looking at the poignant issues of security and speed in the Internet environment," said Hasan. "Risk is synonymous with any business activity, but there is absolutely no need for the Internet-driven environment to be considered a greater risk than traditional business channels."

Currently Comtrust can count some of the markets leading banks among its customer base, including National Bank of Dubai, Emirates International Bank and Mashreq Bank Summit Dubai 2001 will discuss E-business Implementation in Corporate Middle East - October 2-3 2001 at Emirates Towers Hotel. It is structured in three parts comprising speaker seminars, B2B showcases and workshops. In addition to Comtrust, Summit Dubai has already gained the support of Dubai Internet City, Accenture, Arab Wide Web, ASP Gulf, Bywater PLC, Cacheflow, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, ITP Publishing and The Business Channel, among others.