| Ahmed Nazif at AmCham
Egypt's new Minister of Communications & Information
Technology, Ahmed Nazif, was received warmly at
an AmCham luncheon during which he outlined a comprehensive plan
for developing Egypt's IT sector and described the role the ministry
would play in it. According to the minister, realizing Egypt's ambitions
on the technology front will hinge on coordinating the efforts of
both the private and public sector with one goal in mind: the transformation
of "Egypt from a developing country to a developed country."
Nazif's plan for Egypt's entrance into the global
technology race begins with his proposed improvements to the telecommunications
sector. Only by building an advanced telecommunications network,
the minister believes, will the country be equipped to establish
its place in the IT industry. "Our population is a young population,"
said Nazif, noting that the young generation of IT users demands
better connectivity and rapid data retrieval. "Globalization
is driving the telecommunications market," he said. "We
are facing an ever-changing and dynamic situation." To facilitate
the necessary changes, Nazif said, Egypt needs to ensure a healthy
climate for foreign investors and a stable local economy. Noting
the success of deregulation in the mobile-phone industry, he promised
that his ministry would continue its efforts along those lines.
While the ministry and Telecom Egypt remain unwilling to hand over
the reins of the country's telecommunications industry completely,
the minister said the search for ways to raise the quality of service
to its millions of customers is on. Improvements include the creation
of a sophisticated high-speed backbone that will provide the necessary
environment for the transmission of voice and text over the Internet,
as well as better service for phone subscribers.
Nazif believes that the key to his bold ambitions lies in the creation
of a new telecom act, one that will empower the country's Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority to oversee the licensing of foreign companies
to operate private networks, while ensuring investors and end-users
that the market will remain open to newcomers. Nazif also emphasized
the importance of human-resource development in fields such as software
development and education in the high-tech disciplines. His plans
include increasing the number of individuals trained in IT resources
from 500 a year to over 5,000 a year. "Each new professional
trained in software development is capable of adding another $40,000
to this country's GDP," he said. The minister said he would
try to make this happen with the help of private sector companies
like Microsoft and Oracle, which are working with the government
to provide affordable PCs and training to university graduates seeking
specialized training. The minister announced the foundation of a
"Smart Village" outside of Giza, where local software
and Internet developers who are currently scouring the city looking
for suitable office space can enjoy facilities such as modern office
buildings, conference rooms and a small convention center. The 325-feddan
compound will mostly likely be built through a joint effort by public
and private sector investors. "There is a consensus that that
the future of Egypt lies in building up this area," said Nazif,
speaking of the IT sector at large. "The future has started
today."
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