The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) on Wednesday officially launched one of the first non-English top-level domain names in the Arab world, .emarat, in Abu Dhabi. in the presence of its director general Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim.
Ushering in a new era of Arab internet identity across the UAE and beyond, the alternative domain name was approved last month by the Washington-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The domain name's launch took place in the presence of TRA's Director General Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim.
Speaking at the launch event at the Emirates Palace, ICANN's CEO and President Rod Beckstrom said the UAE is one of the first four countries in the history of the internet to secure an internationalised top level domain name, allowing people whose primary language script is Arabic to access websites entirely with Arabic characters.
"Dot emarat will bring multiple benefits. It will help to foster innovation and creativity, and provide better branding opportunities for local companies. It will increase convenience and consumer choice, and generate educational opportunities. It will open up access to the internet to more Arabic speakers, who until now have been blocked by the need to use Latin script (and)... it will also help stimulate the pride that comes with expressing a nation’s cultural identity," Beckstrom said.
Source: Gulfnews
Isn't it a tad long? It's like having .australia