Egypt's Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, and his Saudi counterpart Abdullah bin Amer Al-Swaha signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on enhancing cooperation between both countries in the field of communications and information technology to achieve the sustainable development goals. It came on the sidelines of Talaat's visit to Saudi Arabia to chair the 46th round of the Executive Bureau for Arab Telecommunications and Information Council of Ministers, and to participate in the 23rd round of the Council of Ministers of Telecommunications and Information Technology, taking place on 17-18 December. The scope of cooperation between the two countries according to the terms of the MoU, which extends for three years, includes human capacity building, supporting innovation and entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital transformation. It also include the exchange of trainers to implement joint training programmes, and training of trainers. Another MoU was signed between the Saudi Post and Egypt Post to provide logistical services for pilgrims, so that Egyptian pilgrims can transfer their luggage through Saudi post offices close to the rituals of Hajj and Umrah to their places of residence in Egypt, in addition to making electronic payments. According to the new agreement, Egyptian pilgrims and tourists with electronic wallets linked to EasyPay can use and recharge their wallets while in Saudi Arabia. It was also agreed to link the logistical collection centres in both Cairo and Riyadh airports, to become one logistical centre for the region. Moreover, Egypt Post and Saudi Post will activate their money transfer services between both countries, especially since there are more than one million Egyptian citizens residing in the kingdom.
