Beirut, Lebanon� January 30, 2008. � The Lebanese information and communications technology (ICT) industry has sustained its overall size and level of activity, despite serious disruptions in the Lebanese economy due to ongoing political and security turmoil, according to a survey recently released by SRI International, with funding from USAID.

The sector has managed this accomplishment largely by concentrating on expanding export business in regional markets. Compared to SRI�s initial survey in 2004, respondents reported a higher level of export activity, suggesting that export plays an important role in market diversification of Lebanon�s ICT firms in an unstable domestic market.

Survey highlights include:

� The Gulf Region is the most important export market for Lebanese ICT firms, followed by other countries in the Middle East. Almost three quarters of respondents who export reported sales to the Gulf States, and 69 percent reported an increase in sales to the Gulf States.

� In the software sub-sector, high quality and customization to suit customer needs were ranked as the most important factors for success. Similarly, among hardware firm respondents, high quality and after-sales service were ranked as the most important success factors.

� Lack of competitiveness in quality is ranked as the least significant growth barrier in 2007, compared to the 2004 results, which indicated the lack of technical skills as a significant growth barrier. This corroborates other survey findings that the Lebanese ICT industry � both the software and hardware sub-sectors � continues to grow in sophistication, quality and competitiveness as it develops and matures.

� Tradeshow attendance continued to be an important tool for ICT firms to generate new business leads. Of respondents who participated in tradeshows, 83 percent reported that such attendance resulted in new business development overall.

� Respondents identified the lack of information on export markets, policies and procedures, and the lack of client awareness as the top two challenges to sales and export growth.

The 2007 ICT Industry Survey updates the findings of the first-ever ICT Capabilities Survey conducted in Lebanon in 2004 by SRI International in partnership with Social and Cultural Development Association (INMA). Both surveys were distributed to a list of 600 ICT companies.

SRI�s ICT activities fall under the USAID-funded Expanding Economic Opportunities (EEO) program implemented by SRI International with a level of funding of US$ 4.8 million over two years to support the development of agribusiness, tourism, and small and medium enterprises, especially in the rural areas of Lebanon.

ICT Survey PDF

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