The Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's largest exhibition for mobile phone and relevant industries, was organized by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) on February 25-28, in Barcelona, Spain. It was attended by a large number of companies and participants, including experts and officials of major ICT organizations and companies from across the globe.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat participated in MWC 2019, heading a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT).
As part of his participation, Talaat met with a number of ICT ministers, including his Saudi counterpart, Abdullah bin Amer Alswaha. They discussed enhancing cooperation, exchange of expertise in e-government, the transition into a digital society, and the future projects between the two countries. He also met Spain Secretary of State for the Information Society and the Digital Agenda Francisco de Paula Polo, and discussed enhancing cooperation between the two countries in ICT fields, including smart cities, Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and capacity building.
During the conference, Talaat witnessed the signing of an agreement between Telecom Egypt (TE) and Microsoft. The aim is to expand the latter’s cloud network in Egypt, thus improving the communication quality in the MENA region, and contributing to achieving the desired digital transformation.
Talaat also met with Google MENA Managing Director Lino Cattaruzzi. They represented the company’s future investment plans in Egypt and Africa, and discussed cooperation in establishing Google Campus and Google Park in Cairo, to provide training programs and technology startup incubators.
Moreover, Talaat met with GSMA Director General and Board Member Mats Granryd, representing Egypt’s proposal to host Mobile 360 conference that GSMA will organize during 2020-2021. He also met with the World Bank Vice President for Infrastructure Makhtar Diop, and discussed ways to maximize the benefits of cooperation between the World Bank and the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA).
Furthermore, Talaat met with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) CEO and President Goran Marby, and they discussed ICANN’s strategic plan for the period 2021-2025, and highlighted the importance of developing the Domain Name System (DNS) industry in Egypt.
Talaat also met with Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read and Vodafone Egypt CEO Alexandre Froment-Curtil. They discussed the company’s future plans of providing IoT, and cooperation in e-payments, contributing to Egypt’s plans of the transition into a non-monetary society and enhancing financial inclusion.
In addition, the ICT Minister met with Etisalat CEO Saleh Al Abdooli, and discussed Etisalat’s plan to provide local voice call services, and communication services inside closed urban communities.
Talaat witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between TE and Huawei Technologies, with the aim to establish a strategic partnership between the two companies in cloud computing. He met with Huawei Vice President of Public and Government Affairs Mark Xueman, Huawei North Africa Vice President Eric Liu, and Huawei Egypt CEO Vincent Sun. They discussed the possibility of expanding the company’s business in Egypt, and establishing a software development center in Egypt.
Moreover, Talaat met with Ericsson Middle East and Africa Vice President and Head of Managed Services Eva Andrén, and Ericsson Egypt Country Manager Sameh Shoukry. Discussion included the company’s plan to establish a digital service center in Egypt. They also witnessed the signing of two MoUs between TE and Ericsson, to develop TE main cloud network for providing 5G services, and apply AI to activate cloud communication services.
Talaat also met with Flextron Chairman & CEO Jose Maria. They discussed the company’s plan to increase the size of business in software and integrated systems, increase the number of employees, and the plan to expand in electronics industry.
In addition, Talaat met with other officials of major ICT companies, including LG Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Lenovo, Synopsys, Software AG, and PCCW Global, separately. They explored ways of mutual cooperation in ICT, and discussed increasing these companies’ investments in Egypt.
