MENA ICT 2022 Forum saw over 1,400 B2B meetings

AMMAN — During the MENA ICT Forum 2022 held at the Dead Sea on November 16 and 17, the Information and Communications Technology Association of Jordan (Int@j) provided the opportunity to arrange more than 1,400 business to business (B2B) meetings. 

At the forum, 400 meetings took place between representatives of 53 investment funds and startups from Jordan and other countries in the region, according to an Int@j statement.

Int@j revealed that the forum was attended by more than 2,600 participants from 60 different countries. Throughout the two-day event, participants heard from 146 speakers across 96 different sessions and presentations, in addition to 17 announcements of agreements and memorandums of understanding. 

Moreover, 154 exhibitors, including 63 startups and 14 universities also participated. The forum was held in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, the Central Bank of Jordan as a strategic partner and the Ministry of Investment as investment partner, read the statement.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Int@j, Eid Amjad Swais, thanked all the participants in the forum, partners and sponsors whose contribution had a significant impact on the success of the forum, pointing out that the forum was sponsored by 20 private sector companies and 12 strategic and community partners.

Swais also pledged that Int@j will continue its efforts to organise the forum in a way that contributes to achieving its goal, which is to contribute to the implementation of the Royal Vision for Jordan to be a regional centre for the communications and information technology sector. 

Over the two-day forum, the participating speakers unanimously agreed that the ICT sector in Jordan is constantly growing, and emphasised that Jordan has ambitious strategic goals to develop and strengthen the ICT sector.

During the closing ceremony of the forum, Int@j announced the soon-to-be-launched market intelligence function portal, which aims to study the regional and international markets in addition to the local market in order to enable Jordanian companies increase their sales and exports, and find new markets for their products, services and business solutions.

Int@j stated that the unit will start its work by conducting studies on the local, Saudi and Iraqi markets, in addition to specialised studies on new technologies such as cybersecurity and the metaverse. Int@j also announced that its Women's Economic Empowerment Unit will be launched in the first quarter of 2023, which is supported by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).