Egypt and the UAE in joint cooperation in the field of digital transformation

CAIRO: Egypt has signed an agreement with the UAE for the two countries to join together to cooperate in the field of digital transformation.

In an official statement, it was announced Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, has had discussions with Mohammed Al-Naqbi, Chairman of the Emirates Smart Solutions Company.

Al-Saeed said there was already close cooperation between private companies in both countries and the two Arab nations were keen to support the diversification of both their economies.

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, stressed the importance of deepening regional and continental cooperation to achieve digital transformation as part of the strategy for the African continent that was launched during the meeting of African Ministers of Communications and Information Technology in 2019 in Sharm El-Sheikh.

He emphasized that this strategy includes several aspects, the most prominent of which are digital infrastructure, skills development, adoption of digital innovations and the creation of distinct job opportunities.

As part of this process, Egypt aims to provide customized training programs for freelance professionals all across the country. The minister explained that this is part of the implementation of the plan to spread digital innovation centers throughout the country, through which training and programs to support digital innovation will be provided.

He pointed out that work is currently underway to establish the Misr Informatics University, and the Egypt Digital Builders initiative, which aims to develop the capabilities of digital cadres able to compete at the international level.

He said that a number of policies have been adopted that aim to facilitate the process of establishing small and medium-sized companies, by studying the obstacles facing emerging companies and working to solve them, in addition to implementing programs for business accelerators according to a system in which the efforts of the government, the private sector and academia are combined.

He indicated that an ambitious strategy is being implemented to achieve digital financial inclusion. The minister added that Egypt was among the first countries to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. Stressing its readiness to join efforts with all African countries to link supply chains from different countries and regions and to allow small and medium companies access to the regional and sub-regional markets.