International Cooperation
USAID officials outline TAPR II project
On March 14, the International Cooperation Committee hosted three representatives from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to discuss an ongoing USAID-sponsored project that aims to boost the role of the private sector. The participants were Mark Gellerson, project manager and coordinator, Ali Kamel, project co-manager and coordinator, and Richard Laliberte, chief of party, who gave a talk entitled “USAID economic and private sector policy reform assistance to Egypt.”
The speakers introduced the four-year project, called “Technical Assistance for Policy Reform II” (TAPR II), which began in October 2005, with the assistance of BearingPoint, an international management and technology consulting firm. The project’s main objectives are implementing the government’s economic and financial reforms and helping the private sector play a bigger role.
TAPR II operates within six major areas. It works to promote trade facilitation, modernization of the financial services sector, macroeconomic stability, a better regulatory framework, assistance for the private sector and human resources. To this end, the project has many local partners, including the General Organization for Exports & Imports Control, the Organization for Standards & Quality Control, the Central Bank of Egypt, the Capital Market Authority, the Banking Institute, the Egyptian Insurance Supervisory Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the National Competitiveness Council.
The project’s goals include customs reform, establishing an insurance institute, drafting a health insurance law, commercial law reform and improving intellectual property rights. The team has already begun working closely with the Ministry of Finance on the management of its expenditures, revenue collection and debt management. In addition, it is promoting the creation of special economic zones and better education, primarily for legal, economic and business training.
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Media as an effective social development tool
On February 4, the International Cooperation Committee hosted Amr Koura, CEO of Al Karma Edutainment, to discuss the role and challenges of children’s educational television in Egypt in a presentation entitled: “Edutainment: media as an effective social development tool – case study: Alam Simsim.” Al Karma was established in 1998 in order to produce Alam Simsim, the Egyptian version of the world-renowned show Sesame Street.
Koura explained that in Egypt most children are not exposed to education prior to formal schooling. As a result, he says they are not equipped to handle the sudden onslaught of new information presented when they begin school. Alam Simsim therefore targets children between the ages of two and six, and is meant to prepare them for primary school.
To identify the key issues for the show to address, Koura says, a “curriculum seminar” took place in which experts were invited to participate. The group came up with six topics: girls’ education; literacy; health and hygiene; environmental awareness; home and road safety; and national pride. Koura stressed that all topics the show addresses are extensively researched beforehand.
Alam Simsim has a colorful cast of puppet and human characters and includes short documentaries of real kids in their natural environments, inserts of children of various backgrounds introducing themselves, and animated segments used to teach the alphabet and counting. Studies have found that children who viewed the show performed better in math and reading, exhibit more gender-equitable attitudes, and display improved practices related to health, hygiene and nutrition.
Koura said that his company spreads the show’s messages through community work, such as providing training for teachers and NGO workers in poor communities and handing out educational materials, storybooks, audiotapes and stickers. Al Karma’s partners are The Sesame Workshop in New York, USAID and the Ministry of Education. Its sponsors include Americana Foods and Unilever.
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Egypt ICT Entrepreneurship Program View presentation
On December 19, the International Cooperation Committee and the
ICT Committee jointly hosted a meeting at the Grand Hyatt Hotel
with guest speaker Scott Jazynka, head of the Egypt ICT Entrepreneurship
Program (EIEP).
The EIEP is a joint undertaking of USAID and the Egyptian Ministry
of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) that began in
September 2005. Its objective is to increase the competitiveness
of Egyptian ICT firms in the face of global competition. Jazynka
explained that the program has two main components: the ICT Business
Development Center (I-BDC) and the Entrepreneurship Training Program.
The I-BDC, which is staffed with Egyptian and international finance
experts, evaluates a firm's performance and assists it in creating
a short- and long-term financing strategy. It helps the firm identify
local or international investors and prepares it for investor due
diligence investigations.
The EIEP aims to upgrade the training provided to university students
by "training the trainers." Professors and faculty members of six
Egyptian academic institutions - among them the American University
in Cairo (AUC), the Knowledge Academy and the Egyptian Banking Institute
(EBI) - are instructed in entrepreneurship, business management
and marketing skills specialized to the ICT market. Furthermore,
a "start-up" training program is offered to 10-15 firms. The training
is backed by four US partner teaching institutions, including George
Washington University and the University of Maryland.
The factors the project looks at when selecting firms are: annual
revenue, growth in revenues, export potential, corporate governance,
innovation, customer service and technical capacity. Jazynka explained
that in 95 percent of cases the reason firms are rejected is that
their revenues are too low - less than LE 2 million per year. To
date, the EIEP has received approximately 150 applications, selected
18 firms and trained around 60 instructors.
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