Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of communications and Information Technology, met with a delegation from the World Bank headed by Guangzi Shen, Vice President of the World Bank for infrastructure, where the meeting discussed aspects of cooperation between the Ministry of communications and Information Technology and the World Bank, especially in the fields of digital transformation and digital infrastructure development.
During the meeting, Dr. Amr Talaat reviewed the work axes of the digital Egypt strategy, which includes 3 axes, namely digital transformation, digital capacity building and supporting digital innovation, and is based on two pillars, the legislative framework, and the development of digital infrastructure in the homeland, both fixed and mobile; explaining the most prominent achievements of Egypt in the field of digital transformation, the most prominent of which is the launch of the digital Egypt platform, which currently includes about 170 government services a project is being implemented to restructure government applications and platforms, adding that Egypt It made a leap in the rating of the digital government Readiness Index issued by the World Bank, where Egypt was ranked among the group of leading countries in digital government with rating (A), which is the highest category in the index, rising from rating B in 2020 and from rating (C) in 2018.
Dr. Amr Talaat pointed out that the implementation of digital infrastructure development projects is being expanded throughout the Republic, including a project to replace copper cables with fiber-optic cables and connect fiber to homes, and another project to connect government buildings to the fiber-optic network, as well as a project to deploy fiber-optic cables in the villages of the Decent Life initiative in order to provide high-speed internet services to about 60 million citizens; adding that a project was launched in 2019 to raise the efficiency of internet services, which resulted in an increase in the average internet speed of more than 10 times to reach 62.94 Mbit/ s in January 2024, where Egypt occupies the first place in the average The fixed internet speed in Africa compared to the 40th position at the beginning of 2019; noting that fifth-generation services have been made available to mobile companies operating in the Egyptian ICT sector, where Telecom Egypt has obtained a license to operate fifth-generation services.
Dr. Amr Talaat added that the launch of training programs provided by the Ministry of communications and information technology is being expanded to build a base of specialists to qualify them for the local labor market and meet the requirements of international companies operating in Egypt and the development of the outsourcing industry; pointing out that a project is being implemented to deploy digital Egypt innovation centers in all governorates to support digital innovation and entrepreneurship; noting the methodology of the work of the Ministry of communications and Information Technology, which is based on joint cooperation with the private sector in implementing projects; pointing out that the law on combating information technology crimes and the law on personal data protection have been issued, and work is currently underway to issue a The meaning of classifying and exchanging data.
For his part, Guangzi Shen, Vice President of the World Bank for infrastructure, praised the progress achieved by Egypt during the past period in the fields of digital capacity building, projects to spread telecommunications and internet services throughout the Republic, as well as encouraging the private sector to provide digital services; expressing his appreciation for the partnership between the Ministry of communications and Information Technology and the World Bank, which has been going on for years; stressing the importance of completing joint work and building on current experiences, especially in the areas of digital transformation and supporting digitization efforts.
Guangzi Shen reviewed the future plans of the World Bank to accelerate the deployment of telecommunications services, stressing the importance of maximizing the benefit of the Egyptian experience and spreading it to other countries, pointing out that an event will be organized through which the experiences of countries in the field of digital transformation will be reviewed in order to exchange experiences in this field.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed the future cooperation between the Ministry of communications and Information Technology and the World Bank in the areas of supporting digital infrastructure in urban areas, and completing work on cooperation projects in the field of digital transformation and related infrastructure.
The meeting was attended by Eng. Khaled El Attar, Deputy Minister of communications and information technology for administrative development, digital transformation and automation, Eng.Hossam El Gamal, CEO of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Eng. Sherine El Gendy, Assistant Minister of communications and information technology for strategy and implementation, and Eng. Mohamed Nasr, managing director and CEO of Telecom Egypt.
On the part of the World Bank delegation, Stephane Gumbert, regional director for Egypt, Djibouti and Yemen at the World Bank, Mr. Paul Numba Oum, regional director for Infrastructure Management in the Middle East and North Africa, Mr. Avoda Leon Biao, director of the infrastructure program in Egypt, Djibouti and Yemen, and Dr. Zaki Khoury, senior digital development specialist.
