The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology and the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch an e-bazar to promote Egypt's heritage. The project involves the creation of an e-portal to include products created by young producers and companies throughout Egypt. According to a statement from communication ministry, technology companies, banks and distribution institutions such as Egypt Post will implement the project to support young producers in industries and handicrafts. The agreement, signed by both ministers, is a cooperative effort between The Ministry of Communication's Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and the Ministry of Industry's Egyptian International Trade Point (EITP). Amongst the objectives of the project is to develop e-catalogues of Egyptian industries and productions that are listed in ITIDA, to be showcased online. The e-bazar is to be marketed online through EITP and other e-marketing companies in order to increase exports and sales of products worldwide. It is also expected to develop youth skills in photography, e-cataloguing and e-marketing through training programs by specialised companies and communication ministry affiliates. "The e-bazar is expected to generate concrete economic revenue due to the increase of exports, job creation, more opportunities for business development for IT companies in general and website development, e-catalogues and e-marketing companies in particular," read the statement. In keeping with the government's trend towards implementing electronic systems to improve the efficiency, a national strategy for developing the electronic industry was launched last week during the events of Cairo ICT exhibition. This involves developing an electronic manufacturing services and integrated circuit (IC) design industry. The plan aims to employ 30,000workers in the manufacturing field by 2020, in addition to establishing 50 companies in Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) designs and ICs. The 17th annual Cairo ICT was held from 9 to 12 December to provide IT, telecom and communication companies an opportunity to highlight their market, interact with customers and underscore the most important achievements over the past year.
