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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 May 1999 Issue No. 430
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Supplement Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Watch for IT
by Muriel Allen and Shaimaa LabibEgypt can develop its own Information Technology (IT) industry, especially in the software field, in the near future given its rapidly developing computer and Internet markets and its growing pool of software engineers, a senior government computer specialist said at Comdex Egypt '99, the 2nd International Business Computing, Internet and Networking Conference and Exhibition in Cairo last week.
"Egypt will be the next Singapore or India in the IT field. Watch for the 'Made in Egypt' label in the technology field," Hisham El-Sherif, chairman of the Cabinet Information Decision Support Centre, told reporters on 13 May, the opening day of the four-day Comdex event.
Egypt is now the second fastest growing market for computer sales in the world after China, said Gilbert Lacroix, general manager of Intel Corporation for the Middle East and North Africa. Intel is the world's leading processor manufacturer.
Minister of Public Enterprise Atef Ebeid, who opened the conference with El-Sherif, said "Information Technology is vital to the future of Egypt. It will bring the international market to us, and it will integrate Egypt into the international market. Information technology will help Egypt participate in the globalisation of the world economy. And it will help Egyptian companies market their products faster than before. It will make us known everywhere."
The Egyptian government strongly supports investment by foreign IT companies in Egypt, and encourages them to participate in joint ventures with local companies in software and hardware development, the minister said. "Egypt has the infrastructure and the human resources that the IT industry needs," he added.
Businessman Gamal Mubarak attended the opening session of Comdex and also predicted that Egypt will develop its own IT industry in the near future. "We're working on it. Egypt has a competitive advantage in the information technology field in the Middle East, especially in software. In the next couple of years Egypt will start competing with other developing countries in IT," he said.
The 13-16 May event, which attracted over 200 companies from 10 countries this year, looks set to become an annual event in Egypt. The organisers, IIR Exhibitions of Dubai, said official support and participation agreements have been made for the next five years between Comdex Egypt and the Egyptian Software and Hardware Associations.
"These agreements highlight the strength of the Comdex commitment to this market and to supporting Egypt's home IT industry," said Karen Storey, show sales manager.
In May 1998 the first Comdex exhibition attracted close to 15,000 visitors while attendance doubled at this year's show. Comdex now appears to be firmly established as the most influential IT exhibition in North Africa.
Leading business sponsors this year included Microsoft Egypt, Compaq, and MobiNil, one of Egypt's leading mobile networks. Sakhr Software, the giant Arabic software company, and Intel sponsored the Comdex Shopper, a separate event for consumers held parallel to the exhibition.
Naguib Sawiris, MobiNil chairman, and one of the most prominent names in telecommunications in the Middle East, spoke at the opening session of Comdex. "Information technology is a challenge for us in Egypt," Sawiris emphasised. "All people in the business world here know this, but are we doing anything actively to promote IT is the question? I hope Comdex will help us push this development. I believe that if our business community is not ready to invest in IT, we'll remain a Third World country."
Sawiris said Egypt is witnessing a 25 per cent annual growth rate in the IT market, making it one of the fastest growing technology markets in the world. "The exhibition is a great opportunity for the Egyptian IT industry to benefit from the latest information and telecommunication technologies," he said.
The Orascom Group, owned by the Sawiris family, increased its involvement in the IT business in Egypt when one of its companies, Pan Arab Distribution (PAD), was appointed by Intel to handle its distribution in Egypt and North Africa. PAD is already the distributor of Microsoft products in Egypt.
Comdex '99 received strong support from both the Egyptian public and private sectors. The exhibition in the Cairo International Conference Centre was held under the patronage of Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri. It had the official support of the Egyptian Ministry of Public Enterprise, Egypt's Cabinet Information Decision Support Centre, the Egyptian Software Association, Egyptian Hardware Association, Business Software Alliance and Intel.
The United Kingdom's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) provided financial aid to British companies participating in the official UK pavilion at Comdex. "There is strong interest from the UK industry in the Egyptian IT market, and we invited interested British exporters to join in the exhibition," said DTI group coordinator Mark Birchall. "The British government's support is a further sign of our commitment to promoting growth in an already successful business partnership between Britain and Egypt," said David Blatherwick, the British ambassador in Egypt.
The exhibition provided opportunities for local IT companies to conduct business with their international counterparts. Tarek Abou Alam, operations manager at Soficom, an Internet service provider and web site designer, said he was trying to close a deal with a Saudi Arabian company for web site development which would open a new market for his company.
The dynamics of conducting business electronically was in the spotlight at a full day session devoted to e-business. Sponsored by technology giant IBM, the seminar allowed participants to explore such issues as information security for e-commerce and examine a practical approach to developing trade among Arab countries via the Internet. Takrim El-Tohami of IBM said, "E-business is the cutting edge of IT on the Internet. It is a technology that is changing the way we live."
Compaq Computer Corporation, the largest global supplier of personal computers, announced a new Internet initiative at Comdex named Compaq NonStop eBusiness designed to help small, medium and large-sized companies effectively harness the power of the Internet. The Internet is becoming popular in all sectors of the Egyptian economy, and this development will help local businesses to compete in the global marketplace, according to Tarek Heiba, general manager of Compaq Computer Egypt.
Many state-of-the-art products were launched at the exhibition including new servers, notebooks, software, fax communications and laser printers.
"The excellent worldwide response at Comdex is clear evidence that Egypt is now internationally recognised as one of the fastest growing IT markets," said Stefan Kemball of Comdex Egypt. Egypt currently has about 40,000 Internet subscribers and 160,000 computer users. The number of Internet subscribers is increasing by 30 per cent annually. The Egyptian market has sales of 270,000 personal computers (PCs) annually, and in the last year has overtaken Saudi Arabia whose PC sales stand at 230,000, according to leading market research firms.
The region's first IT Recruitment Fair was one of several business initiatives at Comdex '99. "The Recruitment Fair was launched to fill a gap in the market so IT companies can meet committed technology professionals. It provided a venue where people trying to advance their careers in the regional market can meet face-to-face with company decision-makers," said Graham Lock, executive director of Comdex '99.
