KUWAIT: Under the auspices of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) will sponsor the second Kuwait Week in Egypt conference in Cairo from April 17-19. With Kuwait ranked as one of the largest Arab investors in Egypt, representing 25 percent of total Arab investments, the conference will take a closer look at strengthening ties between both countries and the potential of further Kuwaiti investments in Egypt. "The Egyptian market has great potential for attracting investment in the telecommunications and information technology sector, says Saad Al Barrak, CEO MTC Group. "The investment structure in this sector enjoys significant growth opportunities and is expected to attract billions of Egyptian pounds, especially as the mobile penetration rate in Egypt is only currently around 18 percent. Commenting on MTC's participation in the third Mobile license bid in Egypt, Al Barrak added that "We are very much encouraged by the steps taken by the Egyptian government represented by the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (NTRA) to regulate and stimulate growth in the Egyptian telecom market. We are confident this will lead to a transparent process that will ultimately benefit the Egyptian public. "It's very healthy and attractive to investors to have such an independent authority, says Al Barrak. "From our experience operating in Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan, we would like to see other countries in the region follow the example of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in establishing an independent Telecom Regulatory Body to regulate the telecommunication sector and lay down the roadmap for telecom development in their countries. Al Barrak explains that MTC considers Egypt as one of the most important markets in the Middle East and Africa, in terms of its status among Arab countries and the link it represents between the countries of this region. "MTC enjoys vast experience in operating mobile telecommunications in Arab and African markets, through our presence in six Arab countries and 13 African countries, with a customer base of over 15 million active customers. MTC is considered one of the largest investors in the African Continent with an investment of over $5 billion in its 13 operations, he says. "We are delighted to be given the opportunity to participate in the bid for the third mobile license in Egypt. If MTC is awarded the third license, Egypt will serve as our hub for Africa, and we are keen to offer the Egyptian market the experience and technical know-how we have gained over the past 24 years in those markets. We look forward to addressing all of these objectives this coming week at the Kuwait Week in Egypt conference. MTC is considered today to be the fourth largest mobile operator in the world in terms of number of GSM Mobile operations and hopes to continue its mission of becoming a global company.
