Egypt Builds Smart Villages
Egypt Builds Smart Villages
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  • 승인 2007.08.16 09:43
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Q: What is the significance of Egypt's Revolution Day

A: On the 23rd of July 1952, the Egyptian people moved against both the Royal family that had ruled Egypt since the beginning of the 19th century and the British colonization that had lasted seventy years. Spearheaded by the Armed forces, the Egyptian people -- under the leadership of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser -- declared its resolve to become independent from both. This was the start of a chain of events that culminated in the declaration of the establishment of the Arab Republic of Egypt as an independent state and the withdrawal of British army troops from the Egyptian territories. The revolution was determined to change the life of Egyptians through a set of principles, namely ending the British occupation, eliminating feudalism and its domination of land and people, eliminating individual monopoly and the exploitation by a group of capitalists of the wealth of Egypt solely for their own interests, establishment of social justice as opposed to exploitation and cruelty, building a modern and strong army to foil foreign conspiracies to undermine and to shield the country against antirevolution supporters at home, and finally setting a sound democracy to confront the attempts to wipe out the features of the Egyptian national identity.

Q: Please give some insight into the importance of the IT industry in Egypt:

A: The IT sector in Egypt gains its importance from the fact that it is seen by the government as a primary element in the socio-economic development of the country through the diffusion of the concepts of ICT in Egyptian society. This is being implemented through a comprehensive plan that encompasses the diffusion of Internet access, the development of the use of ICT in education, health services, supporting the creation of e-content, the diffusion of egovernment applications, the development of aspects of e-business, and of course the encouragement of several innovations in the field such as the establishment of the Smart Villages of Egypt. To give a small example of the development that this sector has seen, the number of ICT companies rose from 185 companies in 1998 to 1,625 in 2005.

Q: What is Egypt doing to spearhead IT in the African region

A: As a founding member of both the Organization of African Unity and the African Union, and an active proponent of African cooperation in all fields since its independence in 1953, Egypt has been directly engaged in African efforts to establish a cooperation framework in ICT. In April 2006, Egypt hosted the first ever African Conference of ICT Ministers to be held under the auspices of the African Union, the African regional body. And even before that Egypt has been actively engaged in ICT activities in Africa through capacity building and training programs, particularly through the 9 month ICT training program of the ITI institute of Egypt, the signing of MOUs with several African countries for cooperation and the organization of regional events. On the other hand, Egypt is a member of several African Regional Economic Communities such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) with a membership of 20 countries from East and South Africa, and the CEN-SAD Community with a large membership from north, central and western Africa.

Q: What opportunities for cooperation between Egypt and Korea in the Field of IT can you point out

A: The cooperation between the two countries is overseen by a committee of cooperation in the field of IT between the two countries. Established in March 2004 and covering a wide spectrum of activities from regulatory frameworks of cooperation to specific fields such as media convergence or training in the field of ICT, the committee has held two sessions with a third one envisaged this year. In this regard, the Egyptian Minister of Information and Communications Technology, Dr. Tarek Kamel, plans to visit Seoul this year to head the Egyptian Delegation in the meetings of the committee and discuss bilateral cooperation with his Korean counterpart.

Egypt is an expanding market. With a population of almost 80 million, and government efforts to include ICT into every aspect of the Egyptian life, opportunities abound.

Egypt presents any investor with a set of good reasons to invest in it, from a geographic location that enables access to the middle east and Africa to political stability and excellent infrastructure.

The country also has a very conducive legislative and business environment with tax exemptions or reduction on land prices and a provision of highly trained individuals. The availability of skilled manpower at reasonable prices is another perk, as Egypt produces more than 22 thousand ICT professionals per year, most of which are fluent in at least two languages.

One example of great success in ICT in Egypt has been the establishment of the Smart Village. Situated at the outskirts of Cairo, the Smart Village -- the first in a series to be built over the future -- is a 450 acre compound with excellent ICT infrastructure including high speed networks, VPN connections, video conferencing systems, and high quality stable power networks. The Smart Village hosts a series of important ICT giants such as Microsoft, Alcatel, Vodafone and others. It also has a series of call centers built on the huge language skills of Egyptian manpower such as the Xceed call center with 2,000 agents serving 12 countries. In addition, the Village has a dedicated financial district dedicated to institutions, banks and stockbrokers such as the Egyptian Capital Market Authority and Egypt Clearing, Settlement and Depository. The Village finally has a large conference center, public library and other facilities.

There are also many commercial possibilities for Korean companies in Egypt. As mentioned before, the Egyptian market has a large potential for growth. Technologies developed by Korean companies such as xDSL, WiBro, and DMB, could possibly represent an excellent business opportunity for all involved with a proper understanding of the Egyptian market.

Korean products and technologies could be introduced during the numerous international and regional events that take place in Egypt every year. One of the most prominent exhibitions and conferences in this regard is ICT Egypt, which is held annually in Cairo. For Further information about ICT business opportunities in Egypt please visit the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology at www.mcit.gov.eg. The site contains comprehensive information about ICT in Egypt, and investment opportunities and incentives for investors and a set of indicators covering several aspects of the ICT industry in Egypt.


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