Dubai has hosted the 1st Electronic Transaction and Commerce Summit in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with renewed commitment to expand the growth and frontiers of the telecommunication sector in that part of the Middle East.

Among the companies which had the rare opportunity for participation and exhibition is Rlg Communications Group, which is one of the few African brands with global operations sited in Dubai.

The summit was under the auspices of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of UAE, regulators of the telecom sector and discussed latest trends in the digital marketing techniques, exploring the visions and future of e-Commerce, online shopping and digital marketing.

It was attended by over 300 electronic commerce experts.

According to statistics from TRA, there are 58 % internet users who mainly use the medium for the retrieval of information about goods or services, while 23% use the internet for banking purposes, and 66 % use mobile internet for checking and writing emails. Additionally, 83 % of users utilised the internet to access social networking sites in the last three months.

“It has served as a platform to engage with leading minds from the UAEs e-commerce industry at a time when this sector continues to experience unprecedented growth,” Mohammad Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA’s Director-General said at the closing ceremony.

The summit was designed to promote the development of the UAE’s digital economy, representatives from the nation’s eBusiness groups, SME establishments, entrepreneurs and government officials.

The summit also saw a showcase of digital world, featuring innovations from different parts of the world.

Statistics indicate that residents of the GCC are continuing to spend more online than ever before. GCC e-commerce sales are estimated to grow to almost $15 billion (Dh55 billion) by 2015 and the UAE is leading this progressive trend. Evidently, e-commerce has a huge bearing on driving digital economic development and any effort that seeks to enhance both public and private sector electronic transactions and commerce strategies is one of national importance,” said Mohammad Nasser Al Ganem, TRA Director General.

Rlg Communications Group was awarded by the TRA for technological innovation at the Summit. The company’s Head of Digital Marketing, Ashraf Kanjo received the award, the first honour for the company since it relocated its Global Operations to Dubai about a year ago.