The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat and the Minister of Education and Technical Education Tarek Shawki had an inspection tour, today, inside the new tablet factory located in the “Samsung” factory complex in Beni Suef Governorate, which is being established with investments amounting to half a billion EGP within the framework of the state’s strategy to indigenize technology and deepen the local manufacturing of educational tablets, and in light of the presidential initiative “Egypt Makes Electronics” (EME). They were accompanied on the inspection tour by the Governor of Beni Suef Mohamed Hani Ghoneim, and the South Korean Ambassador to Egypt Hong Jin Wook.
The establishment of the factory contributes to providing about 500 job opportunities, as well as providing training for 1,000 technicians on the latest technologies. The construction and building works of the factory were completed in Kom Abu Radi Industrial Zone in Al Wasta district in Beni Suef Governorate, according to the pre-set schedule with the government to complete the construction works, install the two production lines, and start the trial operation of the factory, making it the first in the Middle East. A trial run is planned for in March, provided that actual production will begin next May, and more than 700,000 tablets will be produced in the middle of this year.
During the inspection tour, Talaat confirmed that the establishment of the factory contributes to the transfer of unprecedented technology to Egypt in the manufacture of tablets with a targeted local added value reaching about 50%. This is within the framework of the state’s efforts to attract foreign investments and establish global partnerships with the aim of strengthening the local industry in national projects. He explained that the factory aims at manufacturing an educational tablet bearing the label “Made in Egypt” in light of the partnership between the government and the global company to implement the digital transformation project in public education through the provision of tablets for developing the secondary education system for the Ministry of Education.
The ICT Minister added that the tablet will be manufactured by Egyptian hands and global technology, which represents one of the leaping steps to implement the presidential initiative “EME” which aims at making the electronics industry one of the largest pillars of the growth of the Egyptian economy and the main contributor to doubling Egyptian exports and reducing imports of electronics to the local market and providing hundreds of thousands of job opportunities for highly experienced engineers, technicians and skilled workers.
Talaat pointed out that the establishment of the factory in Beni Suef enhances the state’s efforts to develop Upper Egypt and provide excellent job opportunities for youth in the governorates of Upper Egypt and supports the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology’s (MCIT) plans and executive programs to develop the industry of technology in various parts of the Republic, especially Upper Egypt. Furthermore, he praised the achievement and tireless work he witnessed to complete the building and construction works, and the readiness for electronic manufacturing at the highest level.
Talaat also explained that the factory’s capacity is not limited to the tablets required by the Ministry of Education, but exceeds them by double, as it was agreed to provide the rest of the quantity for students at various educational levels and graduates, and then export to neighboring countries. Moreover, the factory will be developed to manufacture mobile phones, in addition to establishing a technical school to be set up by MCIT and Ministry of Education in New Beni Suef Technology Park.
Samsung will provide training curricula and teachers, and both ministries will provide the place, in addition to supervising the educational process to graduate a new generation of trainees on the latest technologies in the field of electronic design and manufacturing. He stated that a training center will be established in New Beni Suef Technology Park to train graduates on various electronic design and manufacturing processes, in addition to agreeing with Samsung to participate in the electronic design complex that MCIT is setting up in the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital, to join a distinguished group of companies specialized in the field of electronic design participating in the complex, which is a pioneer of its kind in Egypt.
Talaat and Shawki toured the factory to check its readiness to produce educational tablets for school students according to the highest international standards, which would meet the state’s needs of educational electronics in the next stage.
It is noteworthy that within the framework of MCIT keenness to deepen the manufacturing of educational tablets in Egypt by attracting world-leading companies to establish and operate new factories in this field, transfer expertise and technological skills and train local workers, MCIT participated in an integrated work team with the aim of cooperation and coordination. This includes the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, the Ministry of Military Production, the Arab Organization for Industrialization, and the Egyptian Armament Authority.
Moreover, MCIT drawn up a list of electronic devices and components to be locally manufactured, on top of which are Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and lithium batteries. Furthermore, the main roles of the government, foreign investor and local industrial bodies were also defined to achieve the maximum value of the target return.
After negotiating with first-level companies in electronic manufacturing, the efforts resulted in Egypt contracting with “Samsung” to manufacture educational tablets in a new factory for the company to be established in Beni Suef.
The program of Talaat’s visit to Beni Suef Governorate includes many events, which include the opening of three post offices, in addition to inspecting the workflow at Telecom Egypt Beni Suef store and the telemedicine system in the Governorate, and a visit to New Beni Suef Technology Park. Furthermore, the ICT Minister will also witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote digital community development for the citizens of Beni Suef Governorate.
