CAIRO: This year's Cairo ICT saw a 36 percent increase in visitors from the previous year, Osama Kamal, managing director of Trade Fairs International, said Saturday at the closing of the 15th annual trade fair and forum. At the event, Cisco CEO John Chambers announced that the company plans to invest $10 million in Egypt. Mohammed Ragab, El Araby group sales manager, said, “We appreciate the timing of the exhibition. Seeing these big companies participating in Cairo ICT is really refreshing after the slowdown in the industry after the revolution. We had a drop in the number of sales but we are expecting [them] to increase soon.” Jean Pierre Labry, managing director of R&M Middle East and Africa, a Swiss cabling specialist taking part in the exhibition for the eighth time, said, “Cairo ICT is generally a go-to market event where we meet clients from important markets of the region such as the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Egypt, which continues to be a key market for R&M.” One of the sessions discussed the importance of prioritizing small and medium enterprises, and supporting them by providing packaged services. The closing session named “A promise for Tomorrow” featured Magued Osman, minister of information and communication technology, along with Amr Talaat, IBM country general manager, Tarek El Saadany, CEO of Egypt Post, Taha Khalifa, genral manager of Intel, Ayman Abdel Lateef, Microsoft general manager, and Ahmed Kabeel, CEO of OMS. Tarek El Saadany said, “The Egypt Post presence at Cairo ICT highlights the importance of IT in our framework, we must have a basic strong IT infrastructure for our work.” IBM's Amr Talaat Said, “We want to stand by the Egyptian economy, which is why we started our 2020 initiative to represent our vision to have a strong economy by then. Nine years is [enough] time to revive our economy.” Meanwhile, Intel's Taha Khalifa said the increase in visitors signified a bright future for the ICT sector marked by a surge in internet users. Ayman Abdel Lateef of Microsoft said, “The whole world is now focusing on Egypt, confident of the infinite capabilities of the youth.” Attendees highlighted the importance of the ICT sector in boosting the overall economy. Minister Magued Osman said, “This forum is being held under exceptional circumstances in Egypt, making it an adventurous move. “Political success will be followed with an economic revival.”
