Twitter to open first Middle East office in Dubai

Twitter is setting up its first office in the Arab world in ​Dubai to cover its operations across the Middle East and North Africa region.

“Twitter is coming to Dubai,” Shailesh Rao, Twitter's vice president of Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Emerging Markets said in a tweet.

He noted that Dubai is a regional hub for many brands and advertising agencies and that Twitter will be excited to build a team that can work with partners directly.

Twitter, through its representative Connect Ads, first started selling ads in the Middle East in 2013. The social media giant has about 5.8 million users in the Arab world, according to the Arab Social Media Report.

Saudi Arabia leads with the highest number of active ​users in the region with 2.4 million connected​.  

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president of the United Arab Emirates and the ruler of Dubai, now has over 3.7 million followers on the site, and often uses Twitter to announce interesting, or important updates.

Twitter is available in more than 35 languages, and has more than 288 million monthly active users worldwide.