GITEX-2011,week was start y esterday at the Dubai International Conference and Exhibition Centre, opened by His Highness Shaikh Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Shaikh Muhammad was accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, and Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group.

Also attending were Shaikh Ahmad Bin Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

Shaikh Majid Bin Muhammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, and Helal Saeed Al Merri, Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai World Trade Centre.

At the stall of etisalat, Shaikh Muhammad was given demonstrations on new services such as eLife and ePlus, and he also visited Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority prior to stopping at other booths by exhibitors such as Avaya and NEC.

Officials with the Tele-communications Regulatory Authority (TRA) gave Shaikh Muhammad a personal demonstration at their large display of the new Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) tools.

One of the last stops was at Research in Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of the popular BlackBerry mobile phone where Shaikh Muhammad was greeted by RIM chief executive Jim Balsillie.

“We are honoured to have His Highness Shaikh Muhammad open the 31st anniversary of Gitex Technology Week,” said Helal Saeed Al Merri.

“[The event is] the lynchpin of the technology industry in the Middle East and a crucial event for the leading decision-makers who are either based in the region or looking to enter one of the fastest growing ICT markets in the world,” he said.

Hundreds of visitors packed two major conferences, the Global Leaders Summit and the new Cyber Security.