The first "Khadamat Misr" (Egypt's Services Centre) in Greater Cairo opened in Mokattam on Wednesday, offering a centralised location for citizens to access more than 150 government services. The centre was inaugurated by the Egyptian Ministers of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, Local Development and Justice, along with the Governor of Cairo. The event also honoured the family of the late Ashraf Abdel Hafeez, former Minister's Assistant for Digital Transformation, who played a key role in developing the concept. "Khadamat Misr" is a government initiative aimed at improving citizens' experience with government services by leveraging digital transformation, officials said. The centre in Mokattam is the fourth to open nationwide, following centres in Alexandria, Aswan and South Sinai. "This branch of Khadamat Misr is the first in Greater Cairo," said Rania A. Al-Mashat, Egypt's Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation. "It aims to implement a digital transformation in a holistic manner to facilitate the needs of citizens and achieve financial inclusion by enhancing electronic payment methods and adapting digital transformation tools to reduce time." The centre features a dedicated space for people with special needs and offers services including documentation and real estate registration, issuing computerised certificates, renewing the national ID card, individual and family registration, issuing a criminal record, traffic services, civil status, passports, public prosecution services, commercial registry services, social insurance and social solidarity, as well as electronic payment services. "The government has adopted an ambitious plan for administrative reform with the aim of building an efficient and effective government administrative apparatus, characterised by the ability to respond to citizens' needs, ensure improved provision of public services and their governance, enhance the benefit from the development in digital transformation technologies and raise the efficiency of the staff that work with the citizens," said Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development. She added that the centre in Mokattam represents a qualitative shift in the services provided by government institutions, highlighting the ongoing expansion of the project across all governorates. The centre is operated by E-Finance Group for Financial and Digital Investments, the government arm for digital transformation in Egypt. The group plans to expand "Khadamat Misr" to include more than 200 government services across 14 centres in the coming years. "We are always keen to enhance the capabilities and potential of enhancing and adding more technologies and integrated infrastructure for digital transformation services," said Ibrahim Sarhan, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of E-Finance Group. The Mokattam centre has achieved great success since its soft launch earlier this year, officials said, noting that it processed over 400,000 transactions with an average service delivery time of seven minutes. Citizens can access information about the services and inquire about their status via the "Khadamat Misr" website and a dedicated hotline. Additional centres are slated to open in Gharbia, Giza and North Sinai before the end of the year.
