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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 February 2000 Issue No. 467
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Intelligent village at 6 October
By Nevine KhalilEGYPT'S first hi-tech compound, to be constructed at 6 October City, will cover an area of 300 feddans, reports Nevine Khalil. President Hosni Mubarak approved plans to build Egypt's first "intelligent village" which will house software and hardware industries, as well as training, information and Internet services. It will be owned by the Egyptian Communications Company, and soon similar zones will be constructed across the country. The president's go-ahead came on Sunday at a meeting of the national communication and information committee attended by the prime minister, his deputy, as well as the ministers of economy, communication, finance, planning and cabinet affairs.
The meeting reviewed the broad outlines of the national communication and information strategy and identified several targets including the building of an advanced technology industry, increasing exports in this sector, creating a technologically aware society capable of integrating the influx of information into every day life, and initiating training schemes.
"We must keep in mind the need for continuous development to ensure Egypt attains a pioneering role in this fast-growing sector," Mubarak said.
Plans are already afoot to modernise the postal system to enable it to play a bigger role in e-commerce, to develop the communication industry through aggressive training of human resources, to create a comprehensive database for investment projects, legislation and real estate and to complete the national ID project within four years.
Majority funding of initiatives is likely to come from the private sector, with the government assisting in training schemes so as to provide the nascent industry with a qualified workforce.
The funding of these initiatives is budgeted at LE24 million for 1999/2000, LE514 million for 2000/2001 and LE537 million for 2001/2002.
Mubarak heads the national communication and information committee
Mubarak approved several plans to be presented to the cabinet, most significant among which are the building of a high-speed information network within three years; a unified law for communications; a public flotation of the Egyptian Communications Company on the stock market; the creation of a company for developing Information Technology (IT) funded by both the public and private sectors; and a reduction of sales tax to five per cent on PCs.
Mubarak is expected to review the results of feasibility studies and draft laws on all these projects by May. (see interview with minister of information and communication, p.10)
