JEDDAH – Governments across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are set to spend nearly $750 million on advanced professional audiovisual systems by 2015, enabling enhanced and secure logistics in transportation, defense, and criminal justice. Government and military clients are strong buyers and influencers, representing 17 percent of the audiovisual market in MEA, according to audiovisual trade association InfoComm International. Government spending in AV technology is projected to grow from $322 million in 2009, to $732 million in 2015. As MEA expands as a crossroads for people and cargo, audiovisual systems play are vital in enabling real-time traffic tracking, announcement services, and in-vehicle diagnostics. David Lim, Project Director, InfoComm MEA, said: “Governments in the Middle East and Africa are investing in audiovisual technology to deliver efficient and reliable public services, especially in transportation, security, and criminal justice. Professional audiovisual systems enable 24/7 monitoring and control at command, security operations, and emergency operations centers, and provide for secure processing of classified data.” Middle East airlines contributed nearly one-third of total international passenger expansion in 2012 with 15.4 percent growth from 2011, according to the International Air Transport Association. Middle East freight-ton-kilometer, which measures a flight's freight carrying capacity, rose 23.8 percent from August 2012 to August 2013, according to the IATA. MEA hosts eight of the world's 50 busiest seaports: Dubai, UAE; Port Said, Egypt; Jeddah, KSA; Khor Fakkan, UAE; Salalah, Oman; Shahid Rajaee, Iran; Durban, South Africa; and Ambarli, Turkey; according to International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH). Dubai International Airport is now the world's second busiest airport, with 5.99 million international passengers in August 2013, according to Dubai Airports. Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport, opening later in October 2013, will make Dubai World Central one of the world's most advanced multimodal platforms, connecting to Jebel Ali Port, the world's ninth-busiest seaport with 13 million TEUs in 2011, according to the IAPH. Rail projects are also booming across the GCC, with $149 billion in projects led by the GCC Rail network, with numerous freight, metro, and tram projects, according to Zawya data. Key players from government can find the latest audiovisual resources at InfoComm MEA 2013, co-located at GITEX Technology Week, from 20-24 October 2013 at Dubai World Trade Centre. InfoComm MEA 2013 is organized by InfoComm Asia – the Asia Pacific regional subsidiary of InfoComm International, and the Dubai World Trade Centre. — SG
