A mega event on information and communication technology took Cairo by storm. Eman Youssef was there The 11th International Telecommunication and Information Technology Trade Fair and Forum for the Arab world and North Africa (Cairo ICT) opened its doors on Sunday . Inaugurating the fair, Minister of Communication and Information Technology Tareq Kamel announced the launching of Egypt's 2010 PC Initiative to propagate the use of PCs in Egyptian society. The gathering, held at the Cairo International Conference Centre (CICC), also witnessed the launch of Egypt's third mobile network Etisalat, which is expected to face fierce competition from the two existing networks. Etisalat introduced its new 3G services which allow faster access to the Internet as well as video-on-demand, according to Etisalat CEO Saleh El-Abdouli. Its competitor Vodafone Egypt (VFE) also set up 3G application trials for participants and customers during the fair. VFE recently paid LE3.34 billion for a 15- year, 3G mobile phone licence, and will begin offering 3G services once Etisalat starts its operations. VFE's CEO Ian Gray said his company's investments in network development and infrastructure over the past two years alone have reached LE3.4 billion, while VFE's Corporate Affairs Director Omar El-Sheikh revealed that 3G applications include video telephony, speedy music downloads, mobile TV and high speed data services. MobiNil, the third and oldest mobile operator in Egypt, also decided to offer new services such as MobiNil Instant Messenger, Voice SMS and Mobile TV during the fair. According to Kamel, the number of mobile users in Egypt has reached 18 million with a year-on-year growth rate of 70 per cent. Many important ICT issues of concern to the region and the world were debated during the event, such as e-government and ICT in education. Osama Kamal, the event's organiser and managing director of Trade Fairs International said that the ICT sector is currently enjoying development rates between 20-35 per cent in the region, highlighting that $1 billion have been earmarked for investments in infrastructure projects in the Gulf region alone. The CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) Mohamed Omran explained that the success of any industry is based on various factors, most importantly the presence of an event that is capable of gathering all industry parties. This is why Omran stressed the importance of supporting Cairo ICT in becoming a world-class event by the year 2010. His call resonated with many participants, including Microsoft Egypt General Manager Karim Ramadan who said that his company "has always been keen to participate in Cairo ICT, which is evolving every year." Ramadan added that this year Microsoft was competing on more than one level, as Windows Vista and Office System 2007 were launched at the fair in the shopper area called "The Mall". A large Finnish official and business delegation attended Cairo ICT 2007, and also took time to visit the Smart Village. There, they were briefed about government incentives to encourage foreign investment especially in technology projects, stated Vice- President of the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC) Effat El-Shouky. A forum was held for the Finnish delegation and a large number of Egyptian businessmen to exchange ideas about cooperation, and discuss the possibility of partnership agreements. Finnish businessmen regard Egypt as the ideal hub for their presence in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to El-Shouky.
