More allocations to speed up communications, its investments within two years
Egypt, Economics, 2/8/2000

President Hosni Mubarak chaired early this week an expanded ministerial committee meeting to draw out the national strategic communications and information plan and underlined it in the following steps:

- Modernizing the infrastructure of communications and industry of information technology (IT).

- Setting up an advanced industry based on the thoughts and ideas of Egyptian youth to occupy a competitive position in the world market building an information community which absorbs the huge flow of information.

- Serving national issues and promoting the standard of living of the individual and the family and preparing human cadres to absorb the new mechanisms and maximize benefit from them. The new plan also envisages increasing the volume of investments in this field from LE 24 million in the FY 1999/2000 to LE 514 million in FY 2000/2001 and LE 537 million in FY 2001/2002.

In view of the strategic plan, Mubarak approved several recommendations including the setting up of infrastructure projects of communications and a speedway network to be self-funded from the revenues of licenses of national companies which will be assigned the task of providing communications services.

Furthermore, the President agreed on drafting unified law in the field of communications similar to that in the developed countries with the aim of providing modern communications services besides transferring and developing the Egyptian communications company to become a joint company.

Among these recommendations is one to set up a company with the aim of developing the information technology with the government support and the participation of the private sector to upgrade national Communications and information industry and create new job opportunities for youth, increasing exports by issuing Guarantee Certificates and sponsoring new companies and transfer technology.

The ministerial committee will add more activities to the communications and information industry as part of the investment incentives law. The Cabinet will also study reducing sales tax on computers to 5 percent.

Meanwhile, Minister of Communications and Information Ahmed Nazif presented before the committee features of the new unified communications law organizing the communications utility and organizing the issue of licenses to private companies, preventing monopoly, protecting the rights of the investor, Taking into consideration the social dimension.

The strategy also includes several axes foremost among which is one to develop the National Postal Authority, introduce new services and maximize the role of the Postal Authority in the field of E-trade (electronic trade) as well as setting up technological advanced areas.

The first area,which will be at the 6th of October City, will be set up on an area of 300 feddans owned by the Egyptian Communications Company and called "Smart village" . It will include programming industry, information services, Internet, communications, consultations and training centers.

Furthermore, the axes include one for human development via training 5,000 trainees annually in the fields of information experts, programmers and network engineers.

The training courses will be carried out by international companies and the private sector starting April 2000 aiming at raising the number of trainees to 120,000 annually.

Moreover, 50 information complex centers will be established within three years to serve citizens, businessmen, students and researchers through the use of the Internet, speedway networks and other applications such as electronic post and education at a distance.

President Mubarak called for establishing a data base on economic and social feasibility studies through the Internet within one year and drawing up Egypt's investment map within two years.

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