The Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 was organized by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), on February 27- March 2, in Barcelona, Spain. MWC is the world's largest exhibition for mobile phones and relevant industries. MWC Barcelona brought together more than 80,000 attendees and over 2,000 exhibitors. This is in addition to decision-makers; experts; and officials from international organizations, major mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers, and leading companies in mobile phone industry worldwide.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat headed to Barcelona, Spain, for a three-day visit, to participate in MWC 2023. On the side sidelines of WGS 2023, the ICT Minister met with officials from major ICT international companies, specialized in electronics design and manufacturing to discuss enhancing cooperation in related fields and promoting investment.
The ICT Minister held a meeting with Senior Vice President and Head of Market Area Middle East and Africa at Ericsson Fadi Pharaon and various officials from the company. They discussed expanding Ericsson’s business in the fields of exporting digital services from Egypt and enhancing cooperation in digital capacity-building.
Talaat also met with Nokia phone maker “HMD Global” Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO Jean-Francois Baril, and several officials from the company. The meeting delved into Nokia’s plans to expand the volume of its business in Egypt in manufacturing and exporting mobile phones. They also addressed the facilities that Egypt provides to attract companies operating in electronics manufacturing and design to invest and expand their business in Egypt.
In a similar vein, the ICT Minister met with Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer for Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) at Lenovo Wilfredo Sotolongo, and General Manager for ISG at Lenovo in the Middle East and Africa Alaa Bawab. They discussed establishing an engineering design hub for the company at the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital.
Talaat met with CEO of Detecon International Ralf Pichler. He showcased the efforts made to establish CREATIVA Innovation Hubs nationwide to develop digital calibers in ICT and support technological innovation and entrepreneurship.
Furthermore, the ICT Minister attended a session on future vision in light of the advantages that advanced mobile phone networks provide. The session delved into the new horizons of digital innovation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Augmented Reality (AR), as well as their impact on developing and supporting transformation in all industries.
Furthermore, the ICT Minister participated in a roundtable attended by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) new appointed management team, along with relevant ICT Ministers from different countries, to discuss the most prominent opportunities, challenges, and requirements for achieving sustainable digital transformation.
Talaat met with GSMA Director General Mats Granryd to discuss enhancing joint cooperation during the coming period.
In a similar vein, the ICT Minister also held talks with a group of major ICT companies to discuss enhancing cooperation in related fields. He met with the General Manager of Wireless Communications Business Unit at MediaTek Evan Su.
Talaat also met with Group Vice President Integrated Marketing and Communications at STMicroelectronics Gerard Cronin. He also met with CEO and Managing Director of Tejas Networks Sanjay Nayak, and Chief Operating Officer of Tejas Arnob Roy.
The ICT Minister visited the booth of Tejas Networks at MWC to explore the company’s latest techniques and technological solutions.
The ICT Minister also met with Vice President, WW Advisory and Professional Services for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Global Sales Sue Preston, HPE Country Manager -Egypt Mohamed Wasfy, and HPE EMEA Director Lee Rand.
Talaat also met with Cisco officials, including President of Cisco EMEA Wendy Mars, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia (EMEAR) Pastora Valero, and Vice President for the Middle East and Africa Reem Asaad.
Furthermore, the ICT Minister also visited the booth of GreySkies at MWC where he met with the Founder and CEO of the company Ahmed Gamal, and Chief Operating Officer Ibrahim Ghaleb. He also reviewed the digital solutions and services provided by GreySkies to telecom companies.
At the end of his participation in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023, the ICT Minister held a series of meetings with officials of a number of major international technology companies.
Talaat met with President of Huawei Cloud's Global Marketing and Sales Service Jacqueline Shi, President of Huawei Northern Africa Terry HE, and a number of the company’s officials. During the meeting, Talaat witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between Telecom Egypt and Huawei to provide solutions in digital transformation fields.
In a related context, Talaat met with Senior Vice President of Oracle EMEA Advanced Customer Services (ACS) Antonio Mesa.
The ICT Minister also met with Marcin Smolarski, Director of EMEA Sales and FAEs at Maxlinear, and a number of other officials. He also held a meeting with Trend Micro Chief Operating Officer Kevin Simzer.
