Influx of international companies in Middle East drives growth potential of mailstream solutions

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI), the leading mailstream technology company, has announced that the Middle East has emerged as one of its key growth markets with the influx of international companies in the region. Pitney Bowes further revealed that the increasing number of global firms setting up operations in the region has subsequently expanded the market for the company's mailstream solutions and software technologies, prompting it to set a double-digit Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) target over the next few years.

Reiterating its commitment to expanding its business in the Middle East, Pitney Bowes has recently appointed Rohan Mathur as General Manager of Pitney Bowes Middle East. Mathur will be responsible for developing and executing Pitney Bowes' Middle East strategies, and managing existing postal and dealer relationships. He will also be responsible for identifying suitable opportunities to grow the business.

The USD 900 billion global mailstream industry encompasses physical and digital mail, documents and packages that flow across organisations to their customers and back. Pitney Bowes has been a leading provider of mailstream solutions and technologies, including software, hardware and services, powered by its comprehensive portfolio of more than 3,500 patents worldwide in areas such as ticketing, cellular phone payment, shipping, laser printing, encryption and mail production and processing.

Eric-Yves Mahe, President, Pitney Bowes Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA), said, "The market size and rate of development in the Middle East presents vast opportunities for Pitney Bowes to market our proven mailstream solutions and software technologies. With Rohan on board, we are well poised to collaborate more closely with our existing channel partners, thereby paving the way for further expansion and growth in this region. I am confident that we will be able to achieve a double-digit Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in the coming years."

Prior to taking on the role of General Manager, Mathur spearheaded business development at the company's European Dealer Operations for four years, during which he managed the channel relationships in various European countries for both Pitney Bowes and Secap. During his tenure in the UK, Mathur not only billed incremental revenues of approximately USD 6 million in 2008 alone, he was also instrumental in growing the Return On Investment (ROI) of Pitney Bowes/Secap's UK channel business by 25 per cent year-on-year.

Pitney Bowes further revealed that international businesses are expanding in the Middle East because of the region's strong growth potential and strategic advantages such as high availability of skilled workforce, multilingual population and business-friendly environment. Pitney Bowes believes that bringing its world-class mailstream solutions in the region will complement the growing reputation of the Middle East as a major global destination for business growth and development.

Pitney Bowes currently counts national posts such as Jordan Post, Egypt Post and Emirates Post as well as several large enterprises and businesses as its key customers in the Middle East.

(C) 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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