As part of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) keenness to promote Egypt’s position and international leadership in relevant areas, the International Relations (IR) Division at MCIT sought, in 2019, to coordinate and communicate with international and regional organizations and institutions, and enhance cooperation with different countries in relevant areas.

This comes as MCIT seeks to enhance regional and international cooperation, as one of the most important pillars of its strategy, that allows utilizing leading expertise in modern technology, and sharing the Egyptian experience in ICT, at the Arab and African levels.

The IR Division was also keen to benefit from the opportunities and best practices that the global community offers, as well as cooperating with government bodies, multinational companies, and funding agencies, in coordination with the affiliated agencies.

In light of Egypt’s chairmanship of the African Union (AU) in 2019, the IR Division, also, intensified efforts at the African level, through exchanging several visits, during which the African Cooperation Initiative (ACI) was presented, based on Egypt’s experience in digitization and digital transformation. This is in addition to promoting some presidential African initiatives, including the African App Launchpad (AAL), in coordination with a number of experts.

Moreover, the IR Division developed Africa Master Plan, with the aim to move forward, effectively and systematically, internationally, regionally and bilaterally, reflecting the directives of the national political leadership, in ICTs, during Egypt’s chairmanship of the AU. The Division also participated in all the AU relevant events and in the relevant activities of various initiatives and regional entities.

One of the most prominent achievements, at the African level, was hosting the Third Ordinary Session of the AU Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Communication and ICT (CICT-3), in Sharm El Sheikh, on October 22-26, 2019. During the Session, Egypt was unanimously elected as the chair of the AU STC-CICT (2019-2021). The Session was attended by representatives of 38 African countries and 11 ICT Ministers. Egypt, also, formed and chaired the African Working Group on Artificial Intelligence (AI) that brings together experts from eight countries, including Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Algeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia and Uganda.

Furthermore, the IR Division translated the Egyptian foreign policy on cooperation with Arab countries, through enhancing cooperation with Gulf and North Africa countries, and Sudan. This is in addition to promoting the joint Arab action, within the framework of the collaboration between the Arab organizations, to develop ICT and post in the Arab countries, to build unified visions on the major relevant issues, and coordinate the Arab situations in international events.

The 45th Ordinary Session of the Executive Bureau of the Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers (ATICM) was also hosted in Egypt, in July 2019. In addition, Egypt chaired ATICM 46th Ordinary Session, held in Riyadh, in December 2019. The latter discussed the Egyptian proposal for forming an Arab AI team, to be responsible for developing a unified Arab strategy, setting a joint framework for capacity building, raising awareness of the benefits and downsides of such technology and qualifying youth to compete for relevant jobs.

In pursuit of enhancing cooperation with Europe, the IR Division collaborated with a number of European countries, resulting in opening several cooperation channels with these countries to benefit from their expertise in AI and digital transformation. This is in addition to establishing partnerships between Egyptian and European companies, especially in software development and capacity building.

The Division also managed to be present in relevant regional and international organizations, coordinate the technical presence in such organizations, according to the different activities’ agendas, and carry out activities that promote Egypt’s leading position in the ICT sector, at the Arab and African levels, with shedding light on the rapid development of the sector, internationally.

Last year, Egypt hosted the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) and the Radiocommunication Assembly 2019 (RA-19), under the auspices and in the presence of President Abdel El Fattah el-Sisi. The events were hosted in Sharm El Sheikh, in October.

The WRC is one of the major events organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). WRC-19 outcomes included identifying the radio-frequency bands for the Fifth Generation (5G), Internet of Things (IoT) and space research service.