CAIRO: Vietnam and Egypt are looking to increase the two countries information technology cooperation, Vietnam's visiting deputy minister of information and communications said while in the North African country. Nguyen Minh Hong said his country was looking into how Egypt has centralized IT centers across the country in an effort to build the IT sector for the future. He told Bikya Masr on Tuesday that “Vietnam and Egypt are very similar in our outlook for the IT sector and the future so it makes logical sense that we would work together to build the infrastructure in both countries.” He did not elaborate on exactly how cooperation between the two countries would persist after his visit ends on Wednesday, but appeared optimistic that the IT links between Asia and Egypt are “strong and building.” During the Vietnamese delegation's visit, which began on September 2, the two sides worked on an information gathering mission that included meetings with the Egyptian ministry of information and communications, the department of industry and a number of IT centers and businesses in Egypt. The two countries are looking at means of exchanging information and developing and applying it to the trade, education and health care sectors. The Vietnamese delegation visited Egypt's Smart Village, which is often seen as a symbol of Egypt's modern IT network. Currently, a large number of international IT groups and major businesses are investing in Egypt's IT sector, including Microsoft, which uses the Smart Village as its Xbox support center worldwide. BM
