Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dr. Tarek Kamel witnesses today the launch of “Export IT” program.
“Export IT” is a program supporting Egyptian exports of IT services and products. The program has been offered by Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) to Egyptian IT companies. ITIDA provides a 10% fund of the added-value of the companies’ exports.
Dr. Kamel stated that “Export IT” program adds to the serious steps taken earlier by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) to boost Egyptian IT exports and meet the needs of companies operating in IT. This in turn, he added, will reduce the negative impact of the World Financial Crisis.
The program comes within the MCIT strategy carried out through ITIDA to develop and prop up national software programming companies to be more competitive in external markets. Such support will help these companies realize the goal of exporting products worth more than $2 billion by the end of 2013, he added.
ITIDA CEO Dr. Hazem Abdelazim noted that the past phase witnessed a preparatory process for launching the program during which several meetings with non-governmental organizations representing Egyptian IT companies were held.
During the meetings, the two parties discussed the major requirements of Egyptian companies in a bid to overcome the aftermath of the crisis.
Dr. Abdelazim further pointed out that 154 companies signed up to join the program, 140 of them were accepted.
The added value in this context means the actual value of the effort of the exporting company.
The fund on the total value of a company’s exports does not count. Rather, the difference between the company’s revenue of exports and the input of machinery, accessories and licenses of ready-made software programs are counted.
The added-value encompasses software products, consultations, training, IT-enabled services, software applications, system analysis, etc.
ITIDA’s fund applies to payments received for exported products or services during 2009. Companies seeking to benefit from the program have to be members of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) database, Egyptian-owned and headquartered in Egypt with at least 80% of the payroll based in the country.
ITIDA had earlier announced that the final registration deadline for the program was the 31st of January, 2010 via the agency’s website.
The program represents the most recent efforts of ITIDA, conducting direct dialogue with IT companies to identify their needs for the coming phase.
Funding exports of companies enrolled in the "Export IT" program comes as part of the community partnership model of the ICT sector between the government and the business sector in Egypt.
The program also emphasizes the collaboration between the sector stakeholders and policy implementers, deriving several achievements and successes in the coming phase.
