The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat and the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa have held a meeting, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Zamalek, to follow up on the implementation status of the latest developments related to digital transformation projects.
The projects are carried out as part of the cooperation protocol signed by the two Ministries in November 2020, on developing the technological infrastructure of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The protocol covers projects of automating tourism services, managing geographic systems, and introducing and covering archaeological sites and museums with Internet services.
During the meeting, the ICT Minister hailed the role of the former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled El-Enany as well as the achievements made within the framework of cooperation between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities during the past years.
The ICT Minister referred to the periodic meetings held between the two ministries to discuss cooperation pillars and pursue achievements in this regard. He expressed confidence that this cooperation will continue to finalize the remaining work and create new pillars of cooperation between the two sides.
In his remarks, Issa commended the fruitful and ongoing cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and MCIT, highlighting the continuation of this cooperation. He emphasized that digital transformation is one of the most significant objectives of the sustainable development strategy of the Ministry of Tourism.
The meeting discussed the implementation status of the latest developments in the project of boosting Internet speed in tourist facilities in Sharm El-Sheikh, as part of the arrangements made for hosting the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP27), held next November. Boosting the efficiency of Internet speed has been completed for 47 hotels. Around 53 hotels are to be ready within the next two weeks.
The two sides discussed the necessity of boosting the efficiency of Internet speed in tourist facilities in Sharm El-Sheikh, according to the pre-set schedule.
The meeting also reviewed the implementation status of the first phase of the project to boost the efficiency of Internet speed in other governorates nationwide, which includes four and five-star tourist facilities in the governorates of Cairo and Giza. The first phase has been completed in 46 tourist facilities.
The second phase of the project, which includes 340+ tourist facilities, is to begin by October. It includes four and five-star tourist facilities in the cities of Hurghada and Marsa Alam in the Red Sea Governorate, as well as the governorates of Luxor, Aswan, Alexandria, and other tourist facilities in South Sinai.
The meeting also discussed the implementation status of other projects related to digital transformation, in light of the cooperation protocol signed between the two Ministries. These projects include developing the official service website for the Ministry of Tourism. The soft launch by the Ministry was during last August. This is in addition to the project of the historic palaces, as well as developing archeological mission request services, automating the work process, digitizing documents, and archiving all circulated documents and files at the Ministry of Tourism.
The first phase of the e-archiving of nearly 14 million documents for the Ministry of Tourism has been completed as part of relocating the government to the New Administrative Capital. The meeting also reviewed the achievements of the project of automating tourism services. About 55 services of tourist facilities and tourism companies have been automated and launched on the official service website of the Ministry of Tourism.
The Ministry of Tourism is to organize a workshop in cooperation with the Egyptian Hotel Association (EHA). Representatives from MCIT, including the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), will participate in the workshop, in the presence of representatives from telecommunications companies, and representatives and managers of tourist facilities in Sharm El-Sheikh. The workshop is aimed at developing and completing final solutions to the challenges faced by these parties according to the agreed time plan.
The two sides agreed to issue commemorative stamps to celebrate the 200th anniversary of deciphering ancient Egyptian writing, the beginning of Egyptology and the 100th anniversary of discovering and promoting King Tutankhamun’s tomb. This is in addition to promoting the Egyptian Postal Museum at Al-Ataba Square in Cairo, which was opened by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi after its development last July.
The Egyptian Postal Museum includes invaluable and rare items that tell the story of the development of Egypt Post and its services through the ages. State-of-the-art technologies were used to develop methods for displaying and presenting the Museum collections in a way that reflects Egypt Post as a blend of authenticity and modernity.
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Tourism gifted MCIT an 1870 antique mail truck from the Royal Vehicles Museum’s collection. The truck is displayed at the Egyptian Postal Museum as a borrowed item.
The meeting was attended by Deputy ICT Minister for Infrastructure Raafat Hindy, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Tourism Affairs Ghada Shalaby, NTRA Executive President Hossam El-Gamal, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) Ahmed El-Wassief, Assistant ICT Minister for Global Information Infrastructure (GII), assistants to Minister of Tourism to control hotel facilities, shops, and tourist activities as well as technical affairs, Advisor to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Digital Transformation, and a number of officials from the two Ministries.
