MICROSOFT and LINKdotNET partner to create MSN ARABIA

Microsoft and LINKdotNET – a founder and shareholder of skill-link.com - announced last week the signing of an agreement to form MSN Arabia. This will create the first international portal to enter the Arab World and will be in Arabic and English to cater to all users in the Arab region. The regional operation will be based in Dubai and Cairo.

In a meeting attended by Egypt’s Communications and Information Technology Minister, HE. Dr. Ahmed Nazif, Microsoft Corporation, the biggest software company in the world and provider of MSN® the number one worldwide Internet destination with over 230 million unique users, and LINKdotNET (the largest private internet service provider in the Arab World and a leading regional internet developer), an Orascom Telecom company and shareholders in skill-link.com, signed an agreement to form MSN Arabia (arabia.msn.com).

MSN Arabia is the first international portal to enter the Arab World and will be in Arabic and English to cater to all users in the region. There are already 1.8 million Hotmail subscribers registered in the region and this number will significantly increase with the launch of the site. The planned public launch of the new portal will take place in September 2001 and Arabia.msn.com as the URL. The regional MSN operation will be based in Dubai Internet City, United Arab Emirates and Cairo, Egypt. MSN Arabia will be jointly managed by LINKdotNET and Microsoft.

Khaled Bichara, President and Chief Executive Officer of LINKdotNET and member of the board of directors of skill-link.com said that MSN Arabia has come at the right time with the tremendous growth of internet usage in the region and the need for a more professional approach to the web. MSN Arabia will offer the users in the region a unique experience which has before was only available in the US and Europe: “We will be partnering with leading content and e-Commerce providers in order to provide Arab users with the highest quality of localized, customized content and services,” he stated.

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