We were flagging up WAP as early as November 1999, when people still thought it was some spelling error. Trying to educate the market on this was very difficult because nobody would really listen. And yet look at it now. I don't think that the term New Economy applies in the Gulf. We all talk about it, but it's simply not here yet.
Many people talk about e-commerce.
They bandy around the word, but look at the negligible value of e-commerce transations that are actually taking place. That's another issue altogether. The fist version of the AME Info database of 125,000 companies was developed and compiled late in 1996 and sold some 10,000 copies. Circulation figures have reached well above 500,000 copies over the years. Klaus rarely cements a deal with a business partner as a result of an initial meeting.