COUNTRY FOCUS: EGYPT
Valley – a place where the country’s
potential to export communications and
IT services can be maximised.
In 2017, the Egyptian Parliament passed
legislation to create incentives to invest
in the country. The Government has
invested an estimated LE 12 billion to
prepare some areas of the new capital for
the manufacturing and software sectors.
Talaat highlighted that Egypt is interested
in exploring cooperation with Huawei in the
fields of fifth generation communication
technology and Artificial Intelligence. This
year, Egypt will host the Africa football
champions, while Huawei will cooperate
with Telecom Egypt to bring 5G technology
experience to Egypt for the first time.
Extending the cloud network
Meanwhile, Egyptian Prime Minister,
Mostafa Madbouly, met with Li Jie,
Chairman of Huawei’s Supervisory
Board, to discuss new capital smart city
construction related technologies and
practical education and training in various
industry sectors. Microsoft and Telecom Egypt have
announced their collaboration to extend
Microsoft’s cloud network to Egypt. Telecom
Egypt will provide low-latency connectivity
into and across Egypt to help enhance
performance and increase reliability for
customers of Microsoft services.
It was the second high-level meeting
between the two sides this year to
promote Egypt’s digital cooperation
after the World Economic Forum talks
that took place in January. Huawei has
promised to invest more in capacity
building and support the government’s
Digital Transformation. The collaboration will increase Microsoft’s
reach to the large Egyptian market in
addition to improving connectivity across
North Africa and the Middle East.
The Egyptian Prime Minister praised
the level of cooperation between Egypt
and China, especially that President
Abdullah Fatah El-Sisi is keen for Egypt to
benefit from learning from the China’s
development experience. Based on the
favourable cooperation environment
between China and Egypt, the Prime
Minister stressed the importance of
increasing investment in Egypt, especially
in smart city technological solutions and
technologies related to government’s
focus areas.
Jie said Huawei pays great importance
to the strategic position of the Egyptian
market and is committed to more actively
match the government and Egyptian
market demands and contribute to Egypt’s
digital economy development. He stressed
the importance of practical education and
training, which would build a generation of
high quality, and highly skilled members.
Jie highlighted that Huawei is ready to
strengthen cooperation with Egypt in the
field of practical education and training,
to support the technology development of
the government and the private sector in
various fields.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
The new point of presence in Egypt
will benefit from a direct connection to
Microsoft’s global infrastructure to enhance
the delivery of numerous services for
customers. Microsoft’s network investment
will increase capacity and use the latest
in network optimisation for the delivery of
Microsoft services in Egypt.
“Our commitment to the industry comes
in line with the country’s Sustainable
Development Plan 2030,” said Talaat.
“Egypt is spearheading a promising Digital
Transformation strategy that will transform
the society and the economy. We value
collaboration that aims to empower local
enterprises and accelerate transformation for
business advancement.”
Talaat also emphasised that Egypt is
capitalising on its unique geographic
location which makes it a hub for digital
businesses and data centre activity due
to the strong presence of submarine
cables passing through both the Red and
Mediterranean seas.
across North Africa and the Middle East. We
are continuously investing to increase the
size, speed, reliability and intelligence of
Microsoft’s global network to help enable
the Digital Transformation of organisations
and enterprises locally and abroad.”
Egypt’s distinctive geographic location
on the Red and Mediterranean seas has
enabled Telecom Egypt to connect more
than 11 cable systems from the east and
13 from the west linked with the Red-Med
Corridor consisting of 7 diversified highly
reliable routes across Egypt.
“We are pleased to partner with Microsoft
as it represents one of the first steps toward
our strategic Digital Transformation plan,”
said Adel Hamed, Chief Operating Officer,
Telecom Egypt.
“Telecom Egypt’s geographical position and
its digital infrastructure will enable major
cloud providers such as Microsoft to enhance
their reach to consumers and enterprises in
Egypt as well as reach other markets.”
Khaled Abdel Kader, General Manager,
Microsoft Egypt, added: “Microsoft is
committed to providing world-class cloud
services to enable and accelerate the Digital
Transformation of organisations, businesses
and people in Egypt. Our collaboration with
Telecom Egypt and Microsoft’s investment
in the country will further empower Egypt to
achieve more through Microsoft services.”
The new enhanced network presence in
Egypt will connect via Microsoft’s global
network to transatlantic and trans-Arabian
paths, which will improve connectivity across
North Africa and the Middle East, including
enhancing connectivity to the new Microsoft
cloud regions in development in South Africa
and the United Arab Emirates. n
Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President,
Azure Networking, Microsoft, added:
“Through our collaboration with Telecom
Egypt, we are extending Microsoft’s global
network in Egypt and improving connectivity
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