DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- Tejari Announces Ambitious China Expansion Plan, Paving a New Silk 
Road Oriented Around Electronic Commerce

The marketplace spirit was alive and well at the UAE-China Business and 
Economic Cooperation Forum held in the city of Shanghai as Tejari vowed to 
develop a new "e-Silk Road" to restore the former glory and success of the 
historical trade route between China and the Middle East. Tejari's 
participation in the forum marked the culmination of a high-profile trade 
delegation from the UAE to China, led by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin 
Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice President of the UAE, and Ruler 
of Dubai.

(Photo:
)



Within the forum, high-level Emirati and Chinese officials
witnessed two strategic cooperation agreements between Tejari and its Chinese
business partners to advance the e-Silk Road vision. The first agreement
formed a joint venture with Ren Jun, Chairman of YinShengTai Group, the
leading real estate developer in Qingdao, China, to establish Tejari China
(under the Chinese brand name of 'Te Jia Ye') and set in motion the opening
of over a dozen new offices across China throughout 2008. The subsequent
initiative formed a strategic agreement with Hensen Tien, General Manager, of
ShanghaiMart, China's first and Asia's largest permanent international trade
mart, to facilitate export promotion and strengthen commercial links for
textile trade with the Middle East.

Omar Hijazi, CEO of Tejari, joined the distinguished
delegation of UAE's leading organizations in a four-day summit designed to
further enhance trade with China.

Hijazi said: "Our ambitious plans mirror the pace and energy
of this region, and we are enormously proud to join this inaugural trade
delegation as we fulfill our mission to build up and facilitate greater trade
opportunities between the UAE and China. Tejari's electronic marketplace
comprises the largest buyer network in the Middle East and Chinese businesses
can benefit from our unique matchmaking and transactional technology to
secure more trade and interactions".

Chinese business will be able to benefit from the global
product exposure that e-commerce can bring by setting up their online
showrooms and bid electronically on the tenders and auctions posted on the
Tejari marketplace. It is through Tejari's success in boosting links between
emerging markets globally that they are now able to advance the traditional
Silk Road trade route in order to connect Chinese businesses to our 150,000
members in the Middle East.

Tejari's local operations will be executed through its
business partnership with the YinShengTai Group, the leading real estate
developer in Qingdao, China. Established in 2003, YinShengTai Group has
constructed more than 0.8 million square meters of high quality residential
and commercial real estate property.

In his trade mission speech, Ren Jun, Chairman of YinShengTai
Group said: "There are long-standing trade ties between China and the Middle
East. Since as early as 2000 years ago when the DongHan Dynasty existed, the
world-famous 'Silk Road' prospered. At present, China is the second largest
trading partner to Dubai since three consecutive years as well as the largest
source of imports. I believe that the 'e-Silk Road' advocated by Tejari's
online marketplace will be the bridge between China and the Middle East, and
will help China's trade relations in the region to flourish".

Tejari's first trade partnership with ShanghaiMart is focused
on serving China's largest export market, the textile industry. Trade between
the UAE and China increased by 40 per cent last year to US$20 billion, of 
which textiles accounted for US$2.4 billion. The partnership will launch a 
dedicated trading community portal at http://www.ishanghaimart.com, which 
will  significantly lift trade between Shanghai and Dubai along with the 
broader Middle East region.

Through http://www.ishanghaimart.com ShanghaiMart sellers can now
directly reach the UAE and emerging markets where Tejari is present in order
to increase their visibility and sales. Furthermore, as part of this deal,
Tejari will deploy its proprietary e-readiness training program, ensuring
that all Shanghai members are properly trained to conduct business online.
This program will provide eReady(TM) certifications to participating members
and is expected to have a direct impact on the capacity development and
e-readiness of suppliers in the Shanghai region.

Hensen Tien, General Manager, ShanghaiMart said "Through this
specialist portal ShanghaiMart members will not only be able to transcend
boarders with direct trade links across the world, but will also benefit from
Tejari's expertise which will significantly boost trade for our 2,500 member
business community. The agreement between ShanghaiMart and Tejari will
moreover provide the base for a direct link between over 220,000 Chinese
textile manufacturers and buyers across the world."

"With these business agreements in place, Tejari aims to
export Dubai's spirit of innovation to directly advance trade between two of
the most rapidly developing economies in the world. Chinese sellers now have
direct channel to the Middle East markets and will increase their export
efficiency. We see the new generation of Fortune 500 companies coming from
the emerging markets such as the UAE and China. By bringing advanced
electronic commerce technologies to the new economies we hope to drive
significant benefits to businesses with more access to trade opportunities,
increased transparency, and lowered transaction costs that will stage Tejari
as the bridge to the future of commerce." said Hijazi.

As part of the UAE China Summit program and to celebrate the
signing of these partnerships, Tejari hosted a VIP reception at the Pudong
Shangri-la hotel under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Khalid
Sultan al Qasimi, Minister of Foreign Trade in the UAE. The event was
attended by key officials from the UAE and Chinese delegations. Tejari
unveiled its export promotion packages to Chinese suppliers and plans for a
series of ten offices to be opened in the country throughout the upcoming
months. Tejari aims to bring onboard 100,000 companies in the year 2008.

Tejari, which was launched by the Government of Dubai, is one
of the most successful units of Dubai World, a holding company responsible
for much of the Emirate of Dubai's phenomenal economic growth. Tejari's
innovative online trading portal and training programs help to facilitate
trade between companies and geographies across the globe and to develop
electronic commerce skills of business throughout the emerging markets.
Tejari is committed to not leaving any company behind as the business world
is transformed by electronic commerce.

About Tejari

Tejari is one of the leading B2B online marketplaces in the
emerging markets. Tejari enables buyers and sellers to transact and share
information about a variety of goods and services via a secured Internet
environment. Tejari provides a single point of contact for an open and
growing community of buyers and suppliers, permitting spot-purchasing and
on-line auctions that enable participants' real-time access to new markets
and greater cost savings. Visit Tejari at http://www.tejari.com

About Export Promotion Package (EPP)

Export Promotion Package is Tejari's export promotion service through a
combination of online and offline services. The online part allows EPP
members to transact directly with Middle East buyers and the offline part
allows supplier members to attend sourcing fairs abroad and meet face-to-face
with contracting buyers.

For further information, please contact:

    Tejari                              Hill and Knowlton
    Howaida Rabee                       Rania Helmy
    Events and Public Relations Manager Account Manager
    Tel: +971-4-391-3777                Tel: +971-4-3344930
    E-mail: Howaida.Rabee@tejari.com    Email:rania.helmy@hillandknowlton.com