AmCham Egypt and the US Chamber of Commerce held a luncheon event in honor of HE Dr. Tarek Kamel, Minister of Communications and Information Technology at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington DC on June 21 st. The event was held in cooperation with the US-Egypt Friendship Society. The luncheon was part of a greater IT & Telecom Mission, led by Dr. Kamel to the United States, and included representatives from Microsoft Egypt, Oracle Egypt, Cisco Egypt, and Motorola Egypt, amongst others.

Dr. Kamel was joined by Elizabeth Cheney, Principal Deputy Assistant for Near Eastern Affairs and coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives - and Dr. Taher Helmy, AmCham President - in a panel discussion about “Reform In Egypt: The IT & Telecom Sector As A Model”.

Speaking before 250 people, Dr. Kamel started his presentation with the latest political and economic reforms undertaken by Egypt. He described the series of bold economic reforms, which have taken place after the appointment of a new cabinet in July 2004. Amongst those were the reforms in the customs system, which cut the average tariff rate from 14.6% down to 9%. He also spoke of the reforms in financial sector, focusing on streamlining regulations and increasing transparency. The Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) more than doubled its value in 2004, resulting in a 105% capital gain. Today in Egypt, private operators lead our telecommunications and IT sectors. He also spoke of President Mubarak’s historic decision to amend the Constitution and allow multi-candidate presidential elections, which we will all witness this coming September.

Dr. Kamel proceeded to outline the latest developments in IT & Telecom Sector in Egypt. The IT & Telecom Sector is a booming industry in Egypt, a densely populated country with a young and growing Information & Communications Technology Market. The number of companies involved in the Information & Communications Technology sector grew from 185 companies in 1998 to 1349 companies in 2004 – a whopping 629% increase over six years.

Dr. Helmy then introduced Mrs. Elizabeth Cheney, who echoed Dr. Kamel’s assertions that Egypt indeed was on the path to reform. She also spoke of the dramatic shift in the political landscape of the Middle East, referring to the elections in Iraq, elections in the Palestinian territories, and the Lebanese experience. She also spoke of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), which seeks to bridge the "jobs gap" by promoting economic reform and private sector development,

A lively Q&A Session, moderated by Dr. Helmy, followed. There were several questions, which about many differing topics. Some focused on the referendum, which took place in Egypt in May, another was on the status of refugees in Egypt. There was also a question, which focused on having international observers for the Egyptian Presidential elections, scheduled to take place in September 2005. The attendee wanted to know from both Dr. Kamel and Cheney whether there was any agreement between the Egyptian and US governments about having international observers for the elections. Both Dr. Kamel and Cheney said there was no agreement.

A discussion also ensued on venture capital. The attendee was pleased that Dr. Kamel mentioned the importance of venture capital in his presentation and asked both Cheney and Dr. Kamel to comment on Egypt’s ability to absorb and attract venture capital, which has been very useful and successful in other countries.

At the end of the luncheon, Telecom Egypt and Lucent Technologies signed an Agreement that as witnessed by all in attendance.

Top