- Minister of Communications: Opportunities for cooperation and investment in the areas of developing communications infrastructure and international digital infrastructure

By: Basel Khaled

Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, held a meeting with Marton Nagy, Minister of National Economy of Hungary, and his accompanying delegation at the headquarters of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in the New Administrative Capital, in the presence of András Kovaci, Ambassador of Hungary to Egypt, to discuss enhancing joint cooperation in the fields of developing communications infrastructure and digital infrastructure. International.

The meeting comes as a continuation of the Egyptian-Hungarian discussions that began under the chairmanship of the two ministers in light of the visit of the Hungarian Minister of National Economy to Egypt at the head of a high-level delegation that includes a number of government officials, companies and academic institutions. This is to discuss investment opportunities, enhance joint cooperation between the two countries, and exchange experiences in the fields of communications and information technology.

The meeting discussed cooperation between the Egyptian Telecom Company and the Hungarian "4iG" company to establish a high-capacity submarine cable in the Mediterranean Sea to connect Egypt to the eastern entrance to Europe via the Balkan region, ending with the coast of Albania and reaching Frankfurt via terrestrial cables, in order to create an interface and entrance for additional international traffic for submarine cables to reach Europe and adds a new and multiple path to movement between Egypt and Europe. This cooperation comes in light of the commercial agreement signed between the Egyptian Telecom Company and the Hungarian “4IG” group last February during Dr. Amr Talaat’s visit to Hungary.

Cooperation was also discussed in the field of developing and establishing communications networks using fiber optic cable technology to the home inside Egypt, which will benefit the improvement and development of high-speed fixed Internet service provided to citizens inside Egypt.

It was also discussed to begin studying the possibility of localizing some industries related to the manufacture of some elements of the terrestrial network used in providing services on the fiber-optic network, which contributes to supporting the Egyptian economy through the localization of these industries at the expense of reducing imports from abroad as well as increasing job opportunities.

The meeting was attended by Eng. Mohamed Shamroukh, Acting CEO of the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, Eng. Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, and a number of leaders from both the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Telecom Egypt.

On the stream side; Gellert Yassay, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian "4IG" Group, Laszlo Brague, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gergely Fabian, State Secretary for Industry and Technology Policy at the Ministry of National Economy, Andrea Nagene Buda, Head of the International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of National Economy, and Peter Horvath, Trade and Economics Counselor at the Hungarian Embassy in Egypt, and a number of leaders of the Hungarian 4IG group.

In a related context; A delegation of Hungarian companies and academic institutions visited the Knowledge City in the New Administrative Capital. The delegation was briefed on the activities of the Imhotep Center to Support Innovation in the Field of Electronics, the National Academy for Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities, and the Misr University of Informatics, in order to learn closely about the efforts of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in research, development, and capacity building.

It is worth noting that the Egyptian-Hungarian Business Forum in the fields of communications and information technology was organized by the Information Technology Industry Development Authority at the authority’s headquarters in the Smart Village, with the participation of 19 specialized Egyptian companies, and 13 Hungarian companies and academic institutions, to review opportunities for establishing partnerships between companies from the two countries and to stimulate joint investments.