The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat met, today, with members of the House of Representatives’ Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Committee, headed by Member of Parliament (MP) Ahmed Badawy at Egypt Post premises in Attaba.
The ICT Minister welcomed MPs at the beginning of the meeting and commended the constructive cooperation between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the House ICT Committee to improve all digital and postal services provided for citizens.
The ICT Minister emphasized that MCIT is developing several legislations to submit to the House of Representatives, including a law for data classification and exchange, and a law for startups to establish virtual and remote companies and benefit from e-signature. He explained that workshops are held with startups to explore closely the challenges they face, develop appropriate legislation to overcome any obstacles, and benefit from other countries’ successful experiences in this field.
Talaat also indicated that about 29 agreements were signed recently, in the presence of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, with multinationals seeking to set up shop in Egypt or inject more capital and expand in the Egyptian market. This will help achieve annual export revenues of $1 billion by 2025 and create about 34,000 new job opportunities for Egyptian youth to serve various global markets through 35 service delivery centers. Talaat explained that these companies are based in 11 of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, including the largest company in Estonia, which is the world’s first prominent country in this field. He also referred to MCIT interest in increasing digital exports.
Talaat added that, in 2022, MCIT embarked on a program to host electronics manufacturers in Egypt, including Nokia and Vivo which started manufacturing from Egypt. He added that discussions are currently held with Oppo and Xiaomi to open their factories in Egypt, and with Samsung to expand its factory in Beni Suef. He pointed out that these companies agreed that the local component in the electronics industry should not be less than 40%.
During the meeting, the ICT Minister and the members of the ICT Committee held an extensive discussion about several ICT-related inquiries.
In response to an inquiry from a member of the ICT Committee about cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to develop the electronics industry in Egypt, Talaat explained that MCIT and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are cooperating to facilitate all procedures for multinationals and address all challenges they may face.
With regard to MCIT plan to develop Egypt Post, the ICT Minister pointed out that all post offices nationwide are being automated and developed. Over 3,500 post offices nationwide have been developed; mobile post offices have been increased; and postal services provided to citizens have been developed. The ICT Minister clarified that new post offices are being established in Smart Village and Mall of Arabia to attract high-income citizens.
The members of the ICT Committee also inquired about the efforts made to improve mobile services. Talaat pointed out that, by the end of 2022, about 2,800 cell towers will have been constructed to improve mobile services provided to citizens, and 1,000 cell towers will have been established in the villages targeted within the Decent Life initiative. He underlined that cell towers are being established following international standards with the approval of all concerned state authorities.
For their part, the members of the House of Representatives’ ICT Committee praised MCIT efforts as well as Digital Egypt Strategy for Offshoring Industry 2022-2026, launched by the Ministry to increase the volume of Egyptian exports of IT offshoring products and services. They also noted that the ICT sector has achieved the highest growth rate among different state sectors.
PMs also commended the efforts made to develop the electronics industry and host various multinationals specializing in electronics, to establish factories in Egypt to promote the local product and provide decent jobs for youth.
Badawy thanked the ICT Minister for the meeting and highlighted that the ICT sector has witnessed a breakthrough lately and post offices have been developed nationwide. He pointed out that more cooperation between MCIT and the Committee will be established to set appropriate legislation for the development of the ICT sector.
Following the meeting, the members of the House of Representatives’ ICT Committee visited Cairo Main Post Office in Attaba after its refurbishment. They commended MCIT efforts to develop all post offices nationwide while preserving the original design of historic buildings such as the Post Offices in Attaba and Aswan. The Ministry also provides Post Offices with the latest systems and technological solutions to provide all financial, postal, and government services as well as Digital Egypt services to citizens.
