The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has witnessed the signing of an agreement between the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on Egypt’s hosting of the Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) 2023 in Sharm El-Sheikh, during the second half of 2023.
The agreement was signed by NTRA Executive President Hossam El-Gamal and the Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) Doreen Bogdan-Martin.
A group of leaders and heads of telecom regulatory agencies and authorities worldwide, numerous specialized experts from 70+ countries, a group of the most prominent telecommunication decision-makers, and representatives of local and global companies are to participate in GSR. Their participation aims at exchanging views and experiences on regulatory issues and developments related to the global telecommunications sector and studying the best applied regulatory practices at the international level.
The ICT Minister emphasized that Egypt’s hosting of GSR 2023 in Sharm El Sheikh is within the framework of the state’s keenness to foster cooperation with international organizations and different countries in ICT, especially since GSR is one of the most prominent international events. GSR is organized by ITU to globally discuss ICT significant issues with telecommunication regulators and industry leaders.
The ICT Minister stated that hosting GSR 2023 emphasizes Egypt’s pioneering role internationally in telecommunications regulation, in line with the state’s vision to make Egypt a venue for international events and a hub for exchanging regional and international experiences.
Talaat pointed to the state’s eagerness to mobilize and harness all efforts and capabilities to ensure that organizing this global event will befit Egypt’s position and leading role.
El-Gamal explained that signing the agreement to host GSR 2023 in Egypt is a significant step and reflects the international community’s confidence in Egypt’s capabilities to host this significant international event.
El-Gamal added that the agreement complements NTRA efforts to strengthen Egypt’s international position in telecommunications regulation. NTRA took a set of regulatory measures and effective steps. Due to these regulatory measures and steps, Egypt moved up 54 spots internationally, ranking 41st in ITU ICT Regulatory Tracker in 2020, and 43 spots in the Mobile Money Regulatory Index 2020 issued by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), to rank 36th. In addition, Egypt ranked 23rd internationally in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2019.
It is worth noting that Egypt is a member of the ITU Council since its inception in 1973, being one of the oldest ITU Member States, and effectively participates in ITU activities and works on various pillars. The country is a member of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB), chairs study and work groups in various sectors, and provides technical and organizational contributions to different ITU sectors.
Egypt has been also a venue for launching many ITU international events, such as GSR-16 held in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2016, the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative (FIGI) held in Cairo in 2019, and Radiocommunication Assembly 2019 (RA-19) as well as the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2019.
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, ITU is the leading United Nations agency specializing in ICTs with 193 Member States and more than 900 sector members and associates. It aims to create an enabling environment for sustainable development and growth in ICT worldwide.
