CAIRO: Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif announced plans to establish the first Smart Village in Maadi specialized in Call Center services operated by domestic and international companies. The 75-feddan project will be equipped with all the infrastructure and telecommunications equipment that will allow it to operate as a "fully-established call center that serves national and international IT requirements. In a sohour gathering organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) in the Smart Village - in the attendance of MCIT Minister Tarek Kamel and leading players in the industry - Nazif called on all domestic and international companies willing to participate in the "Call Center Smart Village to participate in the project. "Call centers are not just based on answering client phone calls, it is now an industry of added-value and will provide thousands with job opportunities in all domains, the prime minister's office told Daily News Egypt. The new smart village will create job opportunities for doctors, engineers, lawyers and accountants, not just IT professionals. "This project is considered the first of its kind in the Middle East, and will provide and equip professional, trained cadres in the field, he said. The government's focus on establishing new smart villages and the expansion of the IT sector in Egypt is evident. Just days ago, Kamel witnessed the signing of a cooperative agreement between the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and an international financial institution to establish a regional center that provides financial services in the current Smart Village, serving the Middle East and Gulf Area. The center is worth LE 195 million and provides more than 400 job opportunities during the first phase, which will increase by 20-30 percent over the three years of the agreement period. Striving to attract foreign direct investment in the industry, especially in off-shoring and outsourcing, the MCIT will establish two divisions for the new center offering two kinds of services: call centers and customer services on the one hand and financial cards on the other. The second division will serve the bank's customers in the Middle East and Gulf Area. Focusing on training the youth in the IT domain is a priority. The MCIT promised to complete the execution phase of Nile University's 20 buildings in the Sheikh Zayed Compound in Sixth of October. The specialized university will be inaugurated by the end of next year and will include the latest computer labs and wireless technology available to train young professionals. The year 2008 will witness an increase in technology-related exports to reach $650 million and to provide more than 12,000 job opportunities. The MCIT will also focus on establishing new projects in governorates to reach out to the youth in different areas. "Prime Minister's Nazif's constant interest in the MCIT sector strives from the fact that he was once a MCIT minister, his office said. The MCIT sector has contributed to 15-20 percent of the overall GDP growth that has reached seven percent this year.
