ESIS Extension / Egypt / IS Promotional Activities / Update Memo 5

There have been some significant developments in terms of promotion of IS national strategy driven by the Egyptian government. These have been undertaken by President Hosni Mubarak himself and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (CIT). Additionally, there have been three major trade fairs in which awareness building of IS has taken place.

In the course of his recent six-day US tour President Hosni Moubarak’s focused on cementing Egypt's position as the Middle East's IT powerhouse. Specifically, during his visit to Northern Virginia's "Internet corridor" - a region that is home to hundreds of IT companies, he has promoted the cream of Egyptian IT software personnel, and has forged an important relationship in terms of IT human resources training.

The most important outcome has been IBM's announcement of a deal with the Ministry of of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), worth US$ 44 million to train 15,000 graduates in software development over the next five years, making this the company's largest-ever allocation in the Arab world. The Egyptian government is to match the funds IBM is investing, and will send 250 "trainers of trainers" each year. As an extra incentive, the top 10 percent of each six-month training cycle (each of 1500 persons) will receive an additional six months of intensive study at IBM software labs around the world.

In another development, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), Dr. Ahmed Nazif, addressed an American Chamber of Commerce luncheon during which he outlined a comprehensive plan for developing Egypt's IT sector and described the role the ministry would play in it. The Minister’s plan for Egypt's entrance into the global technology race and proposed improvements in the telecommunication sector were outlined, with focus on the increasing demands the young generation of IT users for better connectivity and rapid data retrieval, in a country with a very high relative share of young population.

A major initiative in terms of long term planning has also been promoted by the Egyptian government to establish "Smart villages" for IT development. Dr. Ali Al Hefnawy, an advisor to Egypt's Minister of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), has stated that the ministry will create three "Smart Villages" in Sixth of October City, Alexandria and El Shoruq City before the end of this year. This move represents the beginning of a long-term commitment that will see the development of more "Smart Villages" throughout Egypt, and is expected to contribute towards IT and IS.

The last quarter have seen three major activities taking place in Egypt that focused on the promotion of Internet, telecommunications and information technology industries. The activities are as follows :

One of the largest international computer trade shows in North Africa was held at the Cairo International Conference Center (CICC) for third year, on May 28-31 2000. The event provided a marketplace for resellers and corporate decision-makers to meet and sell to the region's key technology players, and was also an opportunity for IT businesses to build distribution and manufacturing partnerships throughout the region. Along with a Networking Pavilion, the exhibition also included an Internet Café, a Software Developers' Village, an international Pavilion and a separate US Pavilion.

Egypt as a member of the G-15 group that include Algeria, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Argentina, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Chili, Peru, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela, India and Indonesia hosted a summit in Cairo headed by President Hosni Moubarak and a concurrent trade fair. The trade fair aimed at supporting and encourage trade among group members and also included symposiums and workshops to deal with issues of economic cooperation among the member states, including the area of Information Technology.

A number of prominent multinational organizations joined the Cairo GITEX 2000 fair in the period between 23 and 26 April 2000. The conference was supported by four major associations working in the fields of information technology, namely The Internet Society of Egypt, The Egyptian Association for Advanced technology, the PC companies owners association, and the Egyptian programming society.

Please note that this report has been prepared under the sole responsibility of the ESIS II contractors.
It does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein.
The ESIS Team of contractors welcomes any additional information or corrections.