Tejari Enters China

Tejari Enters China

November 02, 2007

- Tejari, Accompanied by the Heads of Procurement of the
Dubai Government, Leads a Delegation to the Olympic Sailing
City of Qingdao to Open an Online Bridge Between the Middle
East and China

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/
-- Tejari, the leading online B2B marketplace for emerging
markets, has announced that it will enter China with
operations fully in force by year-end 2007. Speaking at the
Qingdao ASEM Forum which took place from October 28th to the
31st, Tejari CEO Omar Hijazi defined the move as creating a
direct online bridge between the Middle East and China to
automate business to business transactions.

    (Photo: 
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071101/280236 )

    "Our focus on China is in response to our customer
demands to seek out new sources of supply. For our Middle
East and global buyers, our venture will now provide a
direct link to the world's factory," continued
Hijazi.

    "Tejari China, to be launched in December 2007,
will spur the largest online trading platform between the
Middle East and China. China trade with the UAE alone is
expected to reach 19 billion US dollars in 2007 and Tejari
will help boost these figures even further in 2008,"
he added.

    During the event, a signing ceremony was conducted to
celebrate a cooperation agreement between Tejari and the
City of Qingdao. In collaboration with BOFTEC, the Bureau
of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Qingdao,
Tejari will offer its technology and e-procurement services
to the city's suppliers to take advantage of the benefits of
conducting business electronically. The initiative, in its
first year alone, is expected to onboard 800 Chinese
suppliers to the Tejari marketplace with over $50 Million
U.S. Dollars in trade.

    Tejari has now become the third Dubai World company, in
addition to DP World and Limitless, to announce new ventures
in the Chinese city of Qingdao.

    Tejari also hosted a special seminar at the ASEM Forum
attended by over 100 suppliers to promote deeper trading
relations between the UAE and China. The seminar, staged as
a working session, allowed Chinese suppliers to interact
directly with the heads of procurement of the Dubai
Government to understand how to better compete in today's
Middle East market. The Government officials equally had
the opportunity to analyze the China market more closely,
identifying new supplier sources and valuable trade
contacts.

    The ten member delegation who attended the forum
included; procurement leaders, Mr Saeed AL Qaizi, Director
- Group Procurement, Contracts and General Admin - Dubai
World; Mr. K. Kumar - Support & Contracts Manager -
Dubai World; Mr. Tareq Al Khaja - Head of Purchasing Dubai
Municipality; Mr. Adel Khoory - Senior General Manager
Contracts & Purchasing, Dubai Civil Aviation; Mr.
Mohammed Juma, Director of Purchasing & Contracts -
Health Department, Dubai; Mr. Ahmed Sharif, Manager -
Purchasing, Roads and Transport Authority; Mr. Saeed
Mubarak, Manager - Purchasing, Dubai Silicon Oasis; Mr.
Ishaq Al Bastaki - Head of Purchasing & Stores, Dubai
Airport Free Zone Authority; Mr. Adel Kalantar - Director
Corporate Support; Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority; Mr.
Khalid Al Sheikh; Assistant Director General - Finance
& Admin, Health Department, Dubai.

    The initial soft launch phase into China will centre on
building awareness for the brand name of Tejari China, or
'Te Jia Ye' - outlining the advantages of the online
marketplace for companies that wish to do business via the
Internet with organizations in the Middle East and the
broader region.

    "B2B marketplaces in China have traditionally
focused on online marketing. Tejari's transactional
platform will introduce the next generation of
e-procurement to China allowing local suppliers to bid
directly on billions of dollars worth of tenders and
auctions. With our fresh brand 'Te Jia Ye' meaning
wonderfully beneficial deal; we aim to fulfil this brand
promise to our buyers and suppliers engaged in China
trade," Hijazi continued.

    Tejari's offices in China will be operational from late
December 2007, when the company goes live with its China
marketplace.

    About Tejari

    Tejari is one of the leading B2B online marketplaces in
the emerging markets. Tejari enables buyers and sellers to
transact and share information about a variety of goods and
services via a secured Internet environment. Tejari provides
a single point of contact for an open and growing community
of buyers and suppliers, permitting spot-purchasing and
on-line auctions that enable participants' real-time access
to new markets and greater cost savings. Visit Tejari at
http://www.tejari.com


    For more information, please contact:

     Abdulla Salman
     Director of Marketing of Tejari
     Phone: [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]