CAIRO: Last week, Egypt's information technology minister said the North African country is looking to increase its exports from its burgeoning outsourcing industry to $10 billion by 2020. According to statements last Wednesday, Cairo wants to also increase its focus on IT entrepreneurship and intellectual property rights in the country. Minister Tarek Kamel outlined the new initiatives at an investment conference being held in the Egyptian capital and revealed a glimpse of what is to come in the efforts to see revenue and diversification going forward. At the same time, Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said his ministry is looking at attracting direct foreign investment of some $15 billion annually in the near future. “We need to be able to consolidate. We want to be able to improve management. We want to be able to modernize our base of production,” he told reporters. The government is optimistic on its outsourcing project, which has already seen large multi-national corporations take up residence in Cairo's Smart Village. he country's Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) said that the expect outsourcing to continue to bolster the IT sector and make investment for foreign companies easier. With reported growth in IT last year at 11.3 percent and a number of major international corporations setting up shop in Egypt, the country remains one of the fastest growing destinations anywhere. In 2009, Sykes Enterprise and Stream Global Services made large investments in the country. The ministry of communications and information technology said that ITIDA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Intel Corporation to “further boost the potential of Egyptian information and communications technology (ICT) companies” via Intel's technical background and expertise. “We aim to improve Egypt's potential as an outsourcing destination to be able to compete with other locations on what we can offer, develop and have the ability to be the leading destination for these major IT firms,” said a spokesman from the ministry. The confidence comes on the back Kamel's statements in late March, where he said Egypt hopes to generate some $2 billion in revenue by 2013. The most recent statements show long-term goals for the country, which is likely to spur on investment, say observers. “The idea that Egypt wants to more than quadruple its IT sector in one decade is certainly going to get CEO's taking notice,” said Amr Ghazlan, an IT consultant with Microsoft in the United States. That is good news for potential investors, who have been moving into the North African nation with an eye on further expansion into Africa and Asia. It is a win-win situation the ministry has told Bikya Masr, with little doubt “that we can continue to make Cairo and Egypt top destinations.” It believes the industry can earn the country some $1.1 billion this year, Kamel said, after meeting employees at a newly opened 1,000-seat call center. Little over a decade ago, Egypt did not even have a ministry of communications and technology. The ministry was established in October 1999 and headed by current Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, who believed this sector could become one of the most lucrative in the country if developed properly. The telecom industry represents an estimated four percent of the country's GDP; Egypt's technology exports have reached $250 million annually. Egypt's sales pitch is based on its status as one of the Arab world's largest and fastest growing markets. BM
