Eager to raise its profile in the Arab world, search giant Google said it plans to invest more of its resources in the Gulf.

The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have particularly caught Google’s eye, in part because the countries have highly developed ICT networks.

The National reports:

The Mena region makes up less than 5 per cent of Google’s advertising business worldwide but the number of Google searches has grown by 30 percent, while the online advertising market expanded 118 per cent this year.

“What we’ve seen in Mena and the UAE in the last few years encourages us to invest more,” said Carlo d’Asaro Biondo, the president of southern and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa operations for Google…

“GCC states … have invested significantly in ICT infrastructure such as fibre-optic network, cross-border terrestrial networks, microwave backhaul and mobile technologies,” he said. “Non GCC countries in the Middle East and North Africa have significantly lower GDP, some are affected by the Arab Spring and some have large geographical areas where high capital investment is required, making it difficult to invest in ICT infrastructure,” he said.

Read the full story here.

Curious that Qatar didn’t make the cut. Thoughts?