As part of its executive steps to announce the official launch of the Tawteen Initiative, the General Committee of the initiative held another one of its periodic meetings on Sunday. The meeting was headed by Khalil Hassan Khalil — Head of the General Division for Digital Economy and Technology at the General Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce — in the presence and participation of representatives from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Ministries of Communications and Information Technology; Supply and Internal Trade; Trade and Industry; and Planning and Economic Development; along with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA); the Trade Information Centre; the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency; and representatives from the National Bank of Egypt, National Bank of Alexandria, and Qatar National Bank. The Tawteen Initiative aims to automate 400,000 points of sale (PoSs) at retailers in various governorates by providing an integrated package of applications, technical support and training, and easy financing for them through national banks — in cooperation with various institutions active in the retail sector — to promote the use of smart solutions and electronic payment programmes at all levels, reach higher levels of financial inclusion, and provide technological solutions to automate these merchants. This is the initiative's fourth meeting, and it covered the role of the initiative's partners in financing and operating the initiative across the country, the executive structure of the initiative, some issues related to marketing and promoting it, the CBE stance on the initiative, and solutions on how to overcome any challenges that may hinder the implementation of the initiative. For his part, Khali said that the initiative is targeting 400,000 merchants across the country and will be implemented in stages, starting with Greater Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut, and Port Said.
