CAIRO: Training ICT calibers to further build on the nation's economic successes is Egypt's main concern, said Minister of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) Tarek Kamel at the opening speech of the Global Public Policy Conference (GPPC) 2007 Monday. Held from Nov. 4-6 under the auspices of MCIT in cooperation with the Egyptian Information Telecommunications Electronics and Software Alliance (Eitesal), the GPPC attracted over 500 senior executives, government officials and policymakers from all over the world. "The main source of economic development depends on the spread of ICT tools in society, Kamel said A major element in making use of ICT tools is training human resources, which is a hurdle nations around the world must overcome. As a result, Egypt has taken the initiative jointly with international companies to prepare specialized training programs to train ICT calibers, preparing a competent pool of personnel that can meet market needs. The minister shed light on the importance of economic reform in Egypt, the ongoing growth in sectors like ICT, tourism and real estate and the efforts exerted to improve the investment climate in the country. Kamel pointed to the high number of investments Egypt is attracting, particularly foreign direct investments (FDI) which amounted to more than 50 percent of GDP. The ICT sector, he said, has been expanding consistently, reaching a 20 percent annual growth rate. "ICT has turned from a sector that receives government support to one that contributes to the public treasury, Kamel said, totaling about LE 28 billion in the past two years. Egypt has been taking steps to preserve and build on this growth. One such step was "the launch of international licenses for mobile companies and marine cables and the second landline license are to be launched soon. Kamel also mentioned the importance of implementing the necessary policies to enhance Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and the information networks security that are currently underway. Kamel stressed the significance of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in enhancing the sector, citing the Arabic E-Content and Egyptian Education Initiatives as models. Several foreign investments have been pumped into the sector as companies from Europe, North America, India and China began establishing software development, technical support and technological innovation centers. As the ICT industry grows, Egypt is keen on hosting relevant conferences and events to maximize knowledge sharing and benefit from the experiences of other countries. Kamel called on the attendees to take part in the upcoming events to be hosted in Egypt during the coming two years: The Second Euromed Ministerial Conference on Information Society Feb. 26-27, 2008; ITU Telecom Africa May 11-15, 2008; the World Economic Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh May 17-19, 2008; the International Olympiads for Informatics in August 2008; and the Internet Governance Forum in 2009. The GPPC is organized every two years by World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). The topics discussed during the conference include e-government, e-health and e-education services; internet governance; intellectual property protection; internet and mobile content; Business Process Outsourcing (BPO); and ICT and media convergence.
