Tejari Partners with Development Gateway Foundation to Create ‘Manshoori’ Online Government Tender Service for Middle East Market

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – In concurrence with the Arab Strategy Forum, a new online government tender information service in Arabic and English will be launched through a partnership between Tejari and the Development Gateway Foundation. The new ‘Manshoori’ service, based on the state-of-the-art dgMarket tender publishing platform and created as part of the Tejari business-to-business marketplace, will enable governments across the Middle East to post local “e-tenders” for new infrastructure projects.

Manshoori will be the region’s first deployment of the Development Gateway’s web-based dgMarket service, which increases transparency in government procurement worldwide and saves millions of dollars for governments in emerging markets.

“Adding tenders from Middle East countries to dgMarket via the new Manshoori service is an important step in our plan to attract users and build this service into a ‘one-stop shop’ for government contracting worldwide,” said Mark Fleeton, Chief Executive Officer of the Development Gateway. “The stronger dgMarket becomes, the more we are able to help firms in emerging markets to access international business opportunities. Moreover, by joining Manshoori, any government can increase competition and reduce public procurement costs.”

Manshoori, slated for launch by January 2007, will enable governments across the Middle East to create online tenders in English and Arabic to widen the pool of organizations bidding on infrastructure and other keys projects. Both regional and international organizations will then have the opportunity to respond to these electronic procurement requests, which Tejari anticipates will reach several billion dollars in the first year of Manshoori’s operation.

“Regional governments have become increasingly comfortable with the online procurement model due to the cost savings and increased efficiency it delivers. Manshoori creates a real-time tendering platform for the billions of dollars in development projects currently taking place around the region, from energy and gas to telecommunications, electricity, and healthcare,” said Omar Hijazi, Chief Executive Officer, Tejari.

“Our exclusive agreement covers 17 countries in the Arab world allowing Manshoori to support the entire Arab World. Furthermore, our existing Tejari auctions will be made visible on the global dgMarket website providing our customers access to an expansive base of international suppliers”, added Hijazi.

The global dgMarket website provides easy access to information on more than $500 billion worth of public sector contracts each year, in 19 languages. These include government contracts in 150 countries funded through international lending agencies such as the World Bank, plus nearly all other public procurement listings from more than 35 countries thus far.

The Manshoori website can be integrated into larger national procurement and financial management systems. dgMarket also uses standard international procurement terminologies and helps disseminate common technical standards.

About Tejari is the Middle East’s premier online business-to-business marketplace. 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 www.tejari.com.