Egypt Wants to build Silicon Valley with US cooperation
Egypt-USA, Economics, 3/23/2000

Foreign Minister Amr Moussa Tuesday night told the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco that Egypt has ushered, in the new millennium, with an ambitious national project for a comprehensive technology revival.

"Egypt strives for establishing a Delta valley, a small silicon valley in Egypt," Moussa said.

"Egypt's policy stands on four pillars, first, to develop the technology infrastructure, second, to upgrade human resources by providing skilled labor and top-notch graduates,three, to build an information base to support planning and decision making, and, finally, to develop the business sector by building a strong industry that can fulfill local demand and compete in a more versatile market," Moussa said.

Moussa told the participants that President Mubarak would visit next week the major Information Technology companies in northern Virginia (the silicon Valley of the East Cost) as Egypt expects to add a new and exciting file to Egyptian-American cooperation in the information technology field.

"Central to the campaign is our Build-Own-Operate-Transfer program or BOOT. It provides for the phased opening of key industries to private capital and management," he pointed out.

Under BOOT, infrastructure projects alone are expected to generate more than $ 11 billion in new private sector contracts in the near future, he cleared out.

The Foreign Minister referred to the growth seen by Egypt's Stock Exchange (ESC) and to the privatization of the Egyptian Telecommunications Company (Telecom), due to start in May 2000.

Selling the company, Moussa said, would potentially increase market capitalization by about $ 15 billion. But privatizing the public telephone company is not all. He said that other major companies would be put up for sale, the biggest of which would be Egypt's Electricity Authority.

Moussa stressed that the government is committed to institution building, raising productivity, encouraging greater competition, and improving education.

"The road ahead may be long, but I assure you, there are no turns in Egypt¹s economic renewal agenda, " he said.

Moussa, speaking in San Francisco, the birthplace of the UN system whose motto is peace and home of the Nuclear Weapons Elimination Initiative, said that the first pillar of regional security is reaching a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

"This entails reaching a just solution on all three tracks of the peace process the Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese on the basis of the "land-for-peace formula'' he emphasized.

To reach this end, the Egyptian diplomat said that Egypt and the US are working hand in hand.

President Mubarak hosted Palestinian President Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in Sharm El-Sheikh to restore talks between the two sides after a loping lull.

Next week, President Mubarak would have talks with his American opposite number Bill Clinton on ways to advance peace, he revealed.

Also, Clinton would meet with Syrian President Hafez Assad to discuss how to resume negotiations on the Syrian track, he added.

Palestinian and Israeli negotiators are in Washington Tuesday to talk about final status issues. Moussa termed the US role as crucial in sustaining the momentum of peace development.

"In all of this, the role of the United States is crucial in sustaining the momentum we hope will be achieved through our joint efforts," he said, adding that with an active and energetic American role, we hope that the goal of reaching a just and lasting peace between the Israelis and Palestinians would be realized this year.

"The triangle of peace has three indispensable sides: total withdrawal, full normalization and security for all. This applies to all three tracks, "he said.

Moussa said that the second fundamental pillar for regional security rests on the adequate resolution of the armaments issue in the Middle East and the third pillar on advancing regional cooperation. Finally, he said that the US and Egypt have established what is truly a vital strategic partnership.

"The US is Egypt's largest trading partner with over $ 4 billion in trade. Trade with California alone is almost $ 1 billion. Although American investment in Egypt is gradually increasing, having reached around 2.3 billion, Egypt still feels there is much more room for improvement in view of the great current opportunities in our market," he said.

Bechtel, for instance, has pioneered the way by constructing the first private sector power plant in Egypt and the Middle East, a project worth more than $ 500 million, he pointed out.

"There are many other American successful stories capitalizing on Egypt's strategy of economic integration into the world economy.

Integration that starts with the European Community in the north, all the way to Namibia in the southern part of Africa, passing through the Arab world. A market of over a billion inhabitants, " he expounded.

Previous Stories:
  Egyptian - US agreement   (3/6/2000)
  Agreement for Egyptian - US energy cooperation   (2/23/2000)
  US secretary of energy to visit Egypt tomorrow   (2/21/2000)

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