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Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- March 18, 2015 -- Twitter today announced plans to open an office in Dubai. This will be the real-time platform’s first office in the Middle East and North Africa region, with the aim of better serving local users, partners and advertisers, and will be open in the next few months. MENA is one of the fastest growing markets for Twitter worldwide and this announcement comes as a part of the company’s increased investment and commitment to the region. “MENA is a key strategic market for us and our new Dubai office will serve as the focal point to help our development across the region,” said Shailesh Rao, Vice President for Asia Pacific, Latin America and Emerging Markets at Twitter. “Dubai is a regional hub for many brands and advertising agencies and we are excited to build a team on the ground here who can work with partners directly, helping them get the most out of Twitter,” he added. Several factors have contributed to Twitter’s growth in the Middle East, most significantly the changing demographics. More than 30 percent of the MENA population is now between the ages of 15 and 29, representing 100+ million youth who have grown up with the internet and social media . The Gulf region, UAE and Saudi Arabia in particular, represent some of the largest groups of active internet users, and will most likely continue to be the driving centers for Twitter’s ever-growing presence. Cultural impact Recent statistics show that 88% of the Middle East’s online population uses social networking sites daily and Twitter is no exception. In fact, more people, brands and businesses are realizing the potential of Twitter to connect them with a global audience; as a result, the platform itself is increasingly becoming an important part of the social culture in the Middle East. “Globally in 2014, we’ve seen user growth across our markets aligned to key cultural moments. In MENA for instance, TV was a significant catalyst -- we saw a 200% increase in TV conversations between 2013 and 2014,” explained Rao. Future plans The upcoming Dubai office is the latest in Twitter’s concentrated effort to boost their global offline presence. In the past 12 months, Twitter has opened several offices around the world -- Q4 alone saw the addition of 13 new markets -- resulting in a current sales presence in 73 countries worldwide. “Our vision is to make Twitter relevant for everyone, everywhere. 77% of our monthly active users are outside of the US. Our expansion and decision to set up office in Dubai is a natural step in being closer to our customers and partners, and provides a great opportunity for us to continue our growth. We will also continue to work with our ads partner Connect Ads in the region,” said Rao. Twitter is available in more than 35 languages, and has more than 288 million monthly active users worldwide.
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