The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Yasser El-Kadi, met Monday with the Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Sahar Nasr, to review the developments of the mechanization project of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones' (GAFI) services. The ministers also discussed extending the authority's services to the technological zones such as Burj Al Arab, Assiut, Beni Suef and Sadat. It comes in the framework of cooperation between the two ministries to implement the government plan aiming to encourage investment. The Ministry of Communications has completed the first phase of the automation project of GAFI which purposed to the electronic establishment of companies. More than 2,000 companies have been established electronically in less than two months through the authority's e-services system. During the meeting, the ministers tackled the second phase of the project and its executive plan which is expected to be completed within six months. The next phase will include general associations, corporate amendments, certificates of non-ambiguity and a variety of government services. The Minister of Communications said that this project is a step towards the provision of required services to investors and companies through a single place, as well as contributes to increasing the efficiency of government services. El-Kadi pointed out that his ministry seeks to provide new technologies, systems and applications that contribute to attracting investment, improving the business environment and achieving the desired economic growth rates. Meanwhile, the Minister of Investment stressed the importance of cooperation with the ministry of communications to develop GAFI, reduce bureaucracy in providing services to citizens and encourage domestic and foreign investments. The success of government electronic services, such as documentation and post services, in Al Asmarat City and some technological zones, has become a model for such services in other locations. The development comes within the framework of the government's keenness to take serious executive steps to facilitate providing government services to investors and citizens in an appropriate and distinctive way through Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools. This strategy of transformation into digital services based on technological integration aims to increase Egypt's rating in the doing business report, released by the World Bank and contains an indicator of the ease of establishing a business.
