Chapter 7
Tapping into the Arab Technology Market
The explosion of technology has transformed markets across the globe, and the Arab world is no exception. The region's high-tech entrepreneurs are creating lucrative start-ups and developing advanced technologies, and, through the Internet and mobile phones, Arab consumers are creating a significant market opportunity for e-commerce and other technology-enabled businesses.
When I arrived in Dubai in late 2009, Maktoob was all the rage. The Internet portal, founded in Jordan eleven years earlier, had hit the big time with the kind of exit that technology ventures dream of. In August 2009, a couple months before I arrived, Yahoo! had acquired Maktoob for $164 million. It was one of the most ...
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